Descent
by Ventos
Summary: As a young student learning at Luke's Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, Azok is forced into a world larger than his own. As he struggles at the new look at life, he struggles with an inner battle with his Dark Side...a fight he might not make it through alive...
1. Chapter 1

I do not own the totally awesome Star Wars universe

**I do not own the totally awesome Star Wars universe. That, unfortunately, belongs to a , I hope Mr. George Lucas. And, while I do not own a umpti-hundred acre ranch, with X million dollars, I still own the right to create fanfictions in his world, as do we all.**

**I do not own Luke Skywalker, Cilghal, Kyle Katarn, or any other Jedi that exists in the canon Star Wars world. However, I own Azok, Jaulis, Sali, Kellian, and others.**

**Feel encouraged to comment on my writing, whether it be positive or negative. Criticism is greatly appreciated.**

**Lastly, I hope you enjoy my story. **

Descent

**Chapter 1:**

**In the Yavin 4, troposphere…**

The silver transport _DarkEye_ streaked through the cloudy atmosphere of Yavin 4, growing less and less steady as it descended. The pilot, Cilghal, struggled at the jerky controls of the _DarkEye_, which was about fifty years old now. Carbon scoring and dented plates marred the exterior of the transport, while the interior was littered with scrap metal and uncomfortable seats. 

Behind Cilghal, Azok Se'dorii tapped his foot impatiently. He gripped the armrests tightly, sweat forming at his brow. Cilghal glanced in his direction, quickly returning her gaze to the Massassi Temples below. 

"Calm down," she uttered, too preoccupied to calm him with the Force. Her comment seemed to have no effect on the teenager. She reversed the thrusters suddenly, cutting power from the rear engines and diverting it to the front. After the ship had balanced out, and Azok's grip lessened, Cilghal cut power from the front again, evening it out among all the bottom engines. 

The rickety ship slowed down, landing hard atop the temple below. Cilghal looked back at Azok, who, though still sweating, had apparently calmed down. 

"We're here," she said cheerily, unbuckling her seatbelt. She stood up, walking down the ship corridor. She motioned for Azok to follow her. Azok stood up, and paced behind her. "Sorry about the seatbelt Azok," she said. "There was only one working one, and it was in the pilot's seat. I couldn't-"

"I understand," Azok interrupted. Cilghal paused for a fraction of a second, and continued trough the ship, and down the ramp. Azok chased her down, grateful to see solid ground after their three day voyage. Master Luke Skywalker stood on the temple stone, patiently waiting for the pair to exit.

"Welcome Cilghal," he announced with a smile. The ramp behind Cilghal and Azok returned to the ship. "And this is the new recruit you found on Adrofik?"

"Yes Master Skywalker," Cilghal said, stepping to the side. Luke walked over to Azok, stretching out a welcoming hand. Azok took it silently, returning Luke's firm grip with his own. 

"Nice grip," Luke said, attempting to make conversation. "I am Luke Skywalker, head of the Jedi Academy."

"I am Azok Se'dorii," Azok returned. Azok stood a bit shorter than Luke, only about five and a half feet. Azok was currently fifteen years old. His thick black hair hung down over his pale face, nearly covering his verdant eyes. The strong gusts on the top of the temple blew his hair around, enhancing his vision area.

"You'll like it here," Luke assured. "

Now, if you'll please follow me to the turbolift." 

Luke, Azok and Cilghal endured an awkwardly silent journey down the turbolift. Cilghal made a sidle remark to Luke, but Azok didn't care much that he couldn't here it. He assumed that they were talking about him, but he couldn't be sure. 

The turbolift doors opened, a wide group of students arrayed before them. Cilghal led Azok out first, then Master Skywalker. Luke walked along the inner side of the lecture room, drawing half the gaze with him. The remaining half stayed locked on Azok, who stood sullenly next to Cilghal. Cilghal led Azok to a seat at the back of the room. Then Luke spoke up.

"Attention students," he began, enunciating in a booming voice. "First of all, I'd like to give a warm welcome to our newest student, Azok Se'dorii. I'm sure you all saw him when he exited the turbolift with Cilghal and me," Luke said, chuckling lightly. "I'd like for you all to give him the proper reception. Now, this lecture is about calming animals and people with the Force…"

**Yavin 4 Academy, student cafeteria…**

The lecture had concluded, and Azok was waiting in the temple cafeteria. He was eating a seasoned slab of nerf meat, coupled with some unknown green mush. He had a cup of water with his meal. He was sitting alone until a girl about thirteen years old sat down next to him. Azok forced a smile at her. She slid closer to him. 

"Hey," she greeted him. There was a small awkward pause, and then she blushed. "I'm Sali." Sali was a few inches shorter than Azok, with curly brown hair a little past her shoulders. Her brown eyes accented her clean smile. She wore a tight dark blue jumpsuit that accented her slim physique. 

"I'm Azok. How long have you been here at the Academy?" he asked.

"Almost a month now, I think," she answered. Azok stared at her blankly for a second. "Well, I'll see you later. Bye." Sali stood up, leaving into the crowd of students. A moment later, a teenage boy leaned over the table at Azok.

"Why were you talking to Sali?" he asked bluntly. Azok looked up from his steak at the teen. He had short-cut brown hair, and brown eyes. He stood about as tall as Azok.

"Should I not have been?" Azok countered.

"That's not how I meant it," the teen said. "Sali…Sali's like a training lightsaber." Azok gave him a nonplussed stare. 

"What?" he questioned. 

"You know…" the teen goaded. Azok wasn't connecting the dots. Azok shrugged, as if he didn't care about what he was saying about Sali. "Everybody uses her, ands puts her back. Sometimes more than once."

"Oh," Azok said. "So…"

"Just sayin'," he said. "Be careful. You never know what you might catch." With that, the teen turned around, and walked into the crowd.

**Yavin 4 Academy, student battle circle…**

Azok stood around the dirt circle with about ten other students. Sali edged her way through the line and settled to the left of Azok. In the center stood a tall, dark-skinned male, dressed in native brown reptile skins. He raised his hands, motioning for silence. After he had achieved that, he began. 

"Good," he said. "Today, we'll be focusing on channeling the Force through your arms, and developing your Force Pushes." There was a pause as the instructor's eyes fell on Azok. "Ah, it appears we have a new student. What is your name?"

"Azok."

"Ah. My name if Jaulis. Nice to meet you." Jaulis smiled at Azok. "First, let's work on collecting your Force energy. So, first you must gather your energy like you did in meditation." Azok raised his hand. Jaulis pointed at him. "Yes?"

"Uh, I haven't done any meditations yet." Azok waited for Jaulis to say something, but he didn't. So Azok continued. "So I don't really know what to do here."

"Just try your best," Jaulis said. "You'll work on your meditation later. So, gather your energy. Focus it in your chest. Now, let it travel down your arms, and through your fingers." The group of students all tried to move the Force through your hands, but they could not. Azok looked to Sali, and shook his head.

"This is impossible," he whispered. So far, only three of the students could really execute a Force push. 

"No!" Jaulis yelled. Azok was startled at his sound and candor. "It is possible. Anything is possible with the Force." Azok froze; he didn't really know what to say. 

"Yes, master Jaulis," he finally said. Jaulis nodded to him in acknowledgement. By the end of class, seven students had managed Force Pushes, including Sali.

Then the trainees were all given a two hour break. Azok slipped out of class before Sali even knew he was gone. Azok was going into the forest.

Azok dashed through the underbrush, leaping over logs, stones, and small rivers. This was really the first time he was alone since he arrived at the academy, and he thought it best to go for a long run through the forest. He would be spending a few years here probably, so it would help to gain an insight to the vegetation—and creatures—that could be found in the ecosystem.

Eventually, after about thirty minutes, Azok stumbled to a magnificent temple. The base was constructed of a brownish stone. On the top of the flat rectangle, there were numerous obsidian—or at least that's what Azok though they were---stones flanking a life size statue of a man with his arms raised, commanding an invisible army. 

Azok stepped towards it slowly, forcing each of his steps. When he reached the stairs to the great temple, he thought he heard something behind him. Azok spun around quickly, a small burst of adrenaline rushing through his veins. Nothing. 

Azok continued up the stairs, and soon reached the top. Azok studied the statue from all angles, and heard something from the bottom of the stairs. Azok peered from behind the statue, looking at the stairs. At the bottom, there was a monster!

It stood about three meters high, its tough brown hide scarred. It had two eyes mounted on a large head connected to the torso by not a neck, just an absence of flesh. It had two claws on each side, the upper ones looking sharper and more deadly. The upped arms were a bit longer too. It had two strong looking legs, each with four clawed toes. By the look of it, Azok figured it to be a tree climber too.

Azok turned around and ran over the obsidian. The monster followed, sprinting towards its prey. Azok slid on the pristine obsidian, caught himself, and kept running. Azok turned and hid behind one of the obsidian columns on the giant brown slab. He ducked, trying to remember what Luke had taught at that lecture. _Calming animals…_

But Azok hadn't even achieved any Force power yet. He couldn't even move a pebble. Azok gave up on the Force for now, trying to locate the monster. The monster was on the other side of the column. 

"Now!" the voice cried. Azok heard it, but where did it come from? Who was it? Azok recognized the man as Jaulis. Azok ran for it, and as soon as he took off he regretted it. The monster was on to him. It was about a meter away from him when Jaulis' blue lightsaber came to life with a _snap-hiss_, slicing off the longer left arm. The monster struck Jaulis across his face with the longer right claw. 

Jaulis plunged the weapon into the monster's chest, getting grabbed in his right arm with the long right claw. The arm threw Jaulis off the monster, and Jaulis was slammed into the column Azok was hiding behind. 

Azok's mind raced. _Why is Jaulis here? What should I do? Should I help him, or run?_ Azok knew what he had to do. The monster leaped to Jaulis, rending his chest with the long clawed arm. Jaulis swiped with the lightsaber, cutting off the two right arms. The monster leaped back, turning around. It lumbered down the stairs, strangely civilized. Azok ran to Jaulis, who was bleeding from his arm and chest. Jaulis deactivated his lightsaber, turning to Azok.

Jaulis extended a hand and Azok picked him up. Jaulis leaned on Azok's shoulder for a minute, then began to stand up again. It was then that he began to talk.

"Why did you come here?" Jaulis said between breaths.

"Why did you follow me?" Azok countered.

"I knew you were in danger," Jaulis said harshly. His tone lightened a bit. "So why did you come here, Azok?" 

"I was just running through the forest, and I came to this temple." There was a pause, and Azok knew that Jaulis was searching his mind to see if he was speaking the truth. Jaulis came to the conclusion that he was. "Who was the statue of?" Azok inquired.

"An old Sith lord," Jaulis said off-handedly. 

"What's a Sith lord?" Azok asked. Jaulis paused for a long moment. Azok thought he hadn't heard his question. 

"A Force-user who goes bad," Jaulis said simply. "And let that be the end of it." Azok knew it better to push the matter. He'd ask Luke or Cilghal later. They spent the rest of the trip back to the academy in near silence. When they got back, Jaulis told Azok to clean up for his next class. Jaulis went to his own chambers to meditate. 


	2. Chapter 2

I am sorry that this chapter is kind of short

**I am sorry that this chapter is kind of short. The next one's a bit longer. R&R please!**

**Chapter 2:**

After a quick shower, Azok changed his clothes (he only had three pairs), and went to talk to Master Skywalker. He rode the turbolift up to his office, and came to a set of double stone doors. He pressed a small green button, signaling that he wished to converse with Luke. Azok heard a small _beep_ sound, and a few seconds later, the doors opened. Luke sat in a comfortable-looking chair that he swiveled to face Azok.

"Hello Azok. What can I do for you?" Luke motioned towards another chair, looking equally comfortable as his own. Luke's warm smile both invited Azok to sit, and disturbed him in a strange way. But Azok didn't want to seem discourteous, so he sat down. Once he had sat down, Luke resumed speaking. "Jaulis has filled me in on your trip into the jungle." 

Azok winced, trying to hide his embarrassment and foolishness, but Luke saw through it. Then, Luke continued. "The jungle here is a very dangerous place, Azok. There are savage creatures, and few paths through the underbrush. A few minutes in, you could get lost. You're lucky Jaulis was there," Luke said pointedly. 

"Lucky?" Azok said. Azok had suspected that Master Skywalker had sent him in to guard him or something. Luke took the comment another way.

"Well, luck per se." Luke stood up slowly. "Jedi don't believe in luck. But, through the will f the Force."

"So the Force told Jaulis to follow me into the forest?" Azok asked curiously.

"Perhaps," Luke said off-handedly. "The Force is mysterious, Azok. We don't always know what it wants. It affects things in ways even I do not know." There was a pause as Azok gave Luke a challenging stare. "Omniscience is hardly worth chasing." 

"Total knowledge isn't a good reward?" Azok countered, though Luke was neither seeking an argument or debate. 

"Well, it would be unachievable," Luke commented. There was a pause as Azok thought of his rebuttal. Unfortunately, Luke had been quick enough to change the subject. "So why did you wish to see me, Azok?" Azok was momentarily startled. He blinked his eyes twice.

"I wanted to learn how to use the Force better," he said bluntly.

"Of course you do," Luke said genially. "That's why you're here."

"But I want to learn now," Azok returned, speaking faster than before.

"Patience is another thing a Jedi must learn. Before you can learn anything, you must be patient," Luke said, sitting back down. 

"I tried today, but I just couldn't get anywhere. Almost everyone else in the class managed to get it, but I couldn't." Luke began to lean on his right hand, cognizing. "I want to have extra lessons."

"On meditating?" Luke inquired.

"Yes," Azok blurted. 

"How about this?" Luke asked, framing his next sentence to be his real question. "If you do some work maintaining the speeders, and cooking the food for a week, I'll arrange to give you personal meditation lessons."

"From you?" Azok asked carefully. 

"I have a busy schedule. It will most likely be another Jedi here at the Temple."

"Alright," Azok said simply. He tried to hide the exuberance from his voice, which Luke did not pick up on. Luke smiled at Azok.

"G-" Luke was cut off by a _beep_. Luke pressed a button, ad the double stone doors began to open. "Good," Luke said, standing up again. "See you at the lecture tomorrow," he said, shaking Azok's hand. Azok turned around, noticing a bearded man the approximate age and height of Luke. As Azok exited through the closing doors, he heard Luke's greeting.

"Knight Katarn," Luke said distantly.

"Master Skywalker," Kyle Katarn greeted. "I-" Azok tuned out of the conversation as he left. Azok still had about twenty minutes until his next class, 'meditation'. As boring as it sounded to Azok, he still was anticipating it with much eagerness.

**Yavin 4 Academy…**

It was just as boring as it sounded. One full hour of cross-legged meditating silently on the green stones of the Massassi Temple. However, it was Azok's first time meditating, so he found it amusing for the first ten minutes. For the remainder of the class---there were about fifty students in this class---Azok tried to open himself to the Force, but he just didn't know how. He kept doing what the instructor, Finora (A female Vurk with light green skin) had told them to, but he wasn't getting anywhere.

The class passed shortly, and Azok moved on to dinner. Azok had agreed to help in the kitchen to cook food, but it wasn't as hard as he expected. He merely stuck an unknown meat into the oven, and took it out several minutes late. In the waiting time for the meat to be done, he would chop up a long green vegetable, and stick it in a stew pot. _Don't we have droids for this?_ Azok asked in his head over and over as he was working. Perhaps the academy lacked droids because they liked to punish students with these simple chores. 

One of the downsides from working in the kitchen was that he didn't get to eat with the rest of the students. Azok was looking forward to eating with Sali, but she had left with the others. Azok ate his stew and meat chunks alone, though there was a table of six who were eating together. Those six had been working in the kitchen with Azok too, though Azok didn't know why. As Azok ate, he trued to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"So Jaulis told me that I can't even make it for another month," one of them said. Azok labeled him as the small one.

"No way," a girl piped up. Among the six, she was the only girl.

"Yeah," the small one confirmed harshly. "So I skipped his class today and went back into the jungle."

"Back to that temple?" a teen asked. Azok recognized him as the one who had told him Sali was a 'training lightsaber'."

"So?" the small one said plainly. Azok's eavesdropping was interrupted when a voice spoke up form behind him.

"Hi," the overly cheery voice said. It was Sali. Azok spun around on his lunch bench.

"Oh. Hey," Azok addressed her. 

"I didn't see you at dinner tonight," she commented. "I was beginning to think you were hiding from me." Azok couldn't tell if she was serious or not. He figured she wasn't. 

"I was working in the kitchen," Azok said, motioning to the kitchen. 

"Oh," Sali said. Well, I have a free hour now if you wanna hang out or something." 

"I have to check on the speeders and refuel them, and fix them and stuff now," Azok said. Azok noticed that the brown-haired teen who insulted Sali was pointing at them, snickering. The small table began to giggle lightly. Sali and Azok turned to look at them, each of them rolling their eyes. The brown-haired teen stood up.

"So, Sali, is this your boyfriend now?" he teased. The group of students at the table chuckled softly. Sali blushed, but Azok didn't notice.

"Shut up, Kellian," she said. Kellian took a step closer to her. Now they were only a few meters apart. Suddenly, he jerked his arms at Sali, who flinched back a little. The group of students laughed at this display by Kellian. Sali looked embarrassed.

"Shut up Kellian," Azok said bluntly. 

"What did you say?" Kellian asked, stepping towards Azok. He stopped a few inches from him, glaring at his eyes.

"I said shut up," Azok repeated slowly, enunciating every word. Azok considered adding 'Are you deaf?' after that, but that would be pushing it…if he wasn't already. 

"Sali, you _do_ have a boyfriend, after all. Not that's new, is it?" Kellian said, stepping to the side form Azok. As he stepped closer to Sali, Azok interrupted.

"She's not the only one who has a boyfriend, Kellian," Azok countered. Kellian fumed, turning to Azok. "Not that's new, is it?" Kellian's group of friends even laughed at that one. Kellian stared at Azok for a brief moment, and acted. 

Azok ducked just in time to avoid the right hook that would've met with his face. The punch brushed Azok's hair as he avoided the attack. Azok stood back up, punching straight at Kellian's face with his left fist. Kellian caught the fist, bending it upward, causing a spike of pain to travel up Azok's arm. Azok took a step closer to Kellian, sweep-kicking his ankles with his left foot. Once Kellian's feet were tripped, he released Azok's hand. Azok leaped in the air, bringing his elbow down on Kellian's stomach. 

The wind was knocked out of Kellian's chest, as Azok's elbow connected to his sternum. Kellian rolled to his left, struggling to get up. Azok kicked him in the stomach, sending Kellian sprawling onto the floor, nearly unconscious.

The red-headed teen sprung up, charging at Azok. Azok sidestepped to the right, grabbing the teen's neck. Azok's left arm was soon caught, forcing him to break the grip on his neck. Azok's left arm was twisted, so Azok curved his right punch to connect with the back of the read-haired teen's head. The attack hurt Azok's fist as much as the teen's head, which was significant. 

Azok's arm slipped from his grip, as he pivoted on his left foot. Using the momentum from the spin, Azok kicked the teen's right ankle, causing him to dip to the right. Azok spun again, roundhouse kicking the teen at the neck. He dropped instantly, unconscious. The four remaining teens stood up, staring at Azok. They immediately turned around and ran away. Kellian stood up, his lip bleeding, as he sneered at Azok. He turned around after a pause, and left the room, abandoning the red-headed teen that was unconscious. 

Azok turned to Sali, who stood, virtually frozen at what Azok had just done. 

"Master Skywalker…he'll...if he finds out about this-" Azok cut her off.

"He won't." Azok walked past Sali, heading for an exit. 

"Where are you going?" she called back.

"To fix the speeders." 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

**Chapter 3:**

Seven days passed since Azok's fight with the teens. Since then, kitchen duty had become increasingly irritating and more difficult. Whenever Azok was cutting vegetables, one of the teens would increase or decrease the oven temperature, causing burnt or undercooked meat. When Azok went to cook the meat, one of the teens might increase the stew's temperature, causing it to overflow. They might add extra spices, ruining the stew, or add more vegetables. Azok was glad that his kitchen duty was over.

On the plus side, slight news of his fight had trickled down to the lower levels, and Azok had sort of become a local celebrity. Some of the younger students looked up to him after he had dealt with the local bullies. Although he could manage little more than a small Force Push (he eventually picked it up after several more classes), he was an expert in hand-to-hand combat, and was a near prodigy in the area. In lightsaber combat, although they only used wooden sticks, Azok had performed fairly well. That class only had eight members, Sali being one of them.

Although he didn't like mechanics, it as a class he excelled in. Opposite that, he enjoyed Jedi history, but performed quite poorly. Azok wondered whether or not there was a correlation between the two. Master Skywalker had to make due on his promise soon; Azok would have his personal extra meditation lessons.

Out of all the people attending or teaching on Yavin 4, only two people worried about his speed: Master Skywalker and Sali. In the week where Azok had arrived, he had propelled so far through the standard curriculum that Luke had worried about his speed. Luke was afraid that Azok's speed mirrored Anakin Skywalker, Luke's father's speed, and that Azok would grow overconfident. But, if that were to happen, Azok had failed to see any effects of it on him lately. 

Sali was concerned too, though she didn't reveal her concerns to Luke, or anyone else for that matter. Sali had been mainly concerned about Azok because he had begun to withdraw from her, spending hours in the Great Temple, listening to holocrons from ancient Jedi heroes of the Old Republic. Sali only saw him at classes now, and there was little conversation when they met. Azok was slowly inverting himself. 

Now, Azok Se'dorii stood up, stretching. He flexed his arms and legs, cracking his knuckles. He had just finished his one-hour private meditation that Master Skywalker had promised. Jaulis had been appointed to Azok's meditation exercises, but he hadn't objected. Azok had hypothesized that the man liked spending time with the student. They had meditated during Azok's free two hours, though they only used one of them. 

"Do you feel like you accomplished something today?" Jaulis asked.

"A little," Azok answered. "I'm working on it," he added after a short pause. 

"Good," Jaulis affirmed. "Keep working on it." He took a deep breath. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask me." Azok nodded. Jaulis stretched his hand out for Azok to shake it. Azok gripped it, shaking it once. Then, after breaking the grip, Azok turned and left the room. 

**Yavin 4, student cafeteria…**

Azok feasted on his sparse meal of nerf-meat stew, and an unfamiliar protein shake. Sali was seated next to him, eating a similar meal. Just then, a scruffy-looking boy approached them. Azok's gaze shifted to the blond-haired teen, about a year younger than he. He looked disheveled with unkempt brown hair the length of his own. He wore a dark brown flight suit, which matched his already brown eyes.

"Can I sit?" has asked, motioning to the space next to Azok. Azok and Sali occupied the eight-seater table in only two of the designated spaces. 

"Sure," Azok said casually. 

"My name's Lyven," he introduced, placing his tray on the table. "Lyven Zedsai." He sat down, about a foot from Azok. "What're yours?"

"Azok," Azok greeted him, examining his meal. He had the same thing as Sali.

"My name's Sali Teck," she said optimistically. "Are you new here?"

"I arrived about a week ago," he said. "Knight Katarn found me on Alzidi." Azok made the connection between their arrival timing, casting a look at Sali. 

"That's the same time Azok came here," she commented. 

"Wait," Lyven interceded. "Are you the one who fought Kellian's group?"

"Well, it wasn't much of a fight," Azok corrected quietly. "

"Oh," Lyven said. "I've heard that they want to get back at you for that," he added.

"Yeah," Azok chuckled. "I'm sure they do." 

"No, seriously," Lyven said, as if Azok wasn't taking it seriously enough. "They've got something planned." Azok flashed him a curious stare. 

"I'm not sure what it is though." Before he could say anything more, Azok cut him off. 

"How do you know this?" Azok questioned. 

"I overheard some of them talking about you in the lightsaber training class. The red-haired one and Kellian." 

"I see," Azok muttered to himself.

"Well, just be careful," he advised. "For a Jedi Academy, there are a lot of violent people."

**Yavin 4, student battle circle…**

Aqell, the lightsaber instructor, bowed to Jaulis. Aqell stood almost the exact same height as Jaulis, though a bit shorter. Aqell, a young Bothan, bowed to Jaulis, who bowed in courteous return. Aqell's yellow lightsaber sprung to life with a sudden _snap-hiss_, and he lunged. Jaulis sidestepped to the right, pivoting on his left foot to bring him around. Jaulis' weapon ignited with another _snap-hiss_, contrasting the yellow glow with a blue one. 

Azok stood at the edge of the battle ring, next to Sali and Lyven, watching with ravenous attention. Normally, duels would not involve lightsabers; few at the academy even had them. All duels between students were with wooden sticks less than a meter long. None of the students were yet ready to practice with lightsabers, never mind perform a kai-kan. Azok, as well as the rest of the class, knew that a kai-kan was a reenactment of a famous past lightsaber duel. Now, Jaulis and Aqell were presenting the duel between Jedi Master Loki and the dark Jedi Xadru Korr. 

Jaulis, who was acting as Loki, horizontally swept at Aqell's back. Aqell's blade was already there, parrying with stunning perfection. Aqell pushed Jaulis' blade tip, forcing it back on Jaulis. Jaulis leapt back, landing at the edge of the ring. Jaulis spun his lightsaber in his right wrist, inverting it. Aqell paced towards Jaulis arrogantly, striking high. Jaulis stepped forward, blocking the lightsaber with his own. Jaulis kneed Aqell in the stomach, sending Aqell staggering backwards. Aqell Force-Pushed Jaulis, slamming Jaulis on his back with incredible force. The impact caused Jaulis to release his lightsaber, which clattered harmlessly to the dirt ground, shutting off. 

Aqell advanced again, but Jaulis lifted his lightsaber with the Force. It ignited in midair, clashing against Aqell's with a shower of sparks. The ring of students around the arena gasped at the embers, taking a couple steps back. Only Azok remained where he was, focused totally on the battle. 

Jaulis, still controlling his hovering lightsaber, attacked high, then to his left leg. Aqell parried the diversion attacks, pushing back on the blade. But each time Aqell pushed on the blade, it shut off for a fraction of a second. It reignited a second later, now closer to Aqell's face than his own lightsaber. Jaulis' lightsaber struck down at Aqell's head, but Aqell pivoted to the right, dodging the slash. 

Azok released a held-in breath, thinking for a moment that the combat instructor would be killed. But he knew better than that, and continued studying the tactics used by Jaulis and Aqell. 

Jaulis flipped back to his feet, Force-pulling the lightsaber back to him. Jaulis grabbed the floating weapon with both hands. Jaulis attacked high, meeting Aqell's blade. Aqell pushed back with equal force, their blades---and eyes---locked furiously. Then, all of a sudden, both blades deactivated with a _zzzt_, and they bowed to the audience.

The audience was astonished. After a few seconds, Azok clapped his hands, starting an approving applause for the pair. Then, Lyven's hand shot up. Aqell pointed at him.

"How did the duel end? I mean, they both really didn't activate their lightsabers…did they?" Aqell let out a short burst of laughter. 

"No, they didn't deactivate their lightsabers. Really, Xadru---me, rather--- lifted his lightsaber up and grabbed Loki's by the hilt. Then, Xadru stabbed Loki through the head. But I couldn't really do that; it would be far too dangerous."

"Right," Lyven affirmed. 

"Well," Jaulis began, clearing his throat. "The point in performing this kai-kan was two things. One is to amuse you students, and stimulate your minds to the sort of violence that occurred during the Clone Wars. Seconds, more importantly, is to help you realize some more moves, and to show you how fast a real lightsaber battle is. In a few months, you'll be building your very own lightsabers. Hopefully, you'll never have to use them against any dark Jedi or Sith, but you should be prepared. 

"The speed and strength of a lightsaber battle is very serious. One slip-up, say, if I didn't Force-lift the lightsaber to defend my fallen body, and Loki would've died."

"Well, Loki died anyway," Sali interrupted. 

"True," Jaulis admitted. "But if Xadru hadn't blocked the horizontal slash at the beginning fast enough, all history might have changed. So, take all lightsaber battles seriously. _All_ battles for that matter."

"Jaulis," Aqell said. "What'd you say we open the field to some student duels now?"

"Alright," Jaulis agreed. "You're the teacher here, not me." 

"Okay," Aqell said enthusiastically. "Let's take…Azok." He called on Azok, motioning for him to come into the ring. "You seemed to enjoy our kai-kan." Azok reluctantly stepped into the dirt ring. "Any volunteers here want to challenge him?" Aqell asked to the crowd. Azok thought for a seconds that Kellian would volunteer, but they weren't in the same class. Instead, Azok saw a hand shoot from the crowd. The red-haired boy stepped forward, catching a piece of wood Aqell tossed him. 

"Ah, Kras," Aqell said, tossing an equally long piece of wood to Azok. "I didn't expect that you'd volunteer. As Kras stepped into the ring, he flashed Azok a sinister glare. About a week ago, Azok has knocked him unconscious in the cafeteria. Perhaps this was vengeance. It didn't matter. 

Azok was ready. Just like last time.

**Yavin 4, student battle circle…**

Azok gripped his shaft of fiab wood tighter than before. He bowed lightly, though it took a tremendous effort. Kras did likewise, jerking his head down ad back up mechanically. Aqell waved his hand in the air, signaling the start of the match. 

Everything seemed to happen at once. Kras swept horizontally at his head, and then stabbed at his torso. Azok leaped back, dodging both attacks. Kras performed the move again, and Azok jumped back another meter. It was then that Azok realized Kras was trying to force him out of the ring. 

Azok faked an attack towards his right leg, causing Kras to being his weapon down. Azok rolled past his left side, standing up with his stick on guard. Azok didn't have to move his stick to guard the next attack, which was a sideways swipe at his right side. Azok pushed stronger, forcing Kras to stumble back a few steps. If Azok could only force him back another two meters…

Azok faked an attack towards his head, kicking him in the stomach. But Kras was too fast, back stepping two more steps. One more meter…

Azok was suddenly cast on the defensive. Kras bludgeoned Azok's piece of wood with his, striking it multiple times. Azok gripped the stick tighter, and Kras continued to attack it. Kras advanced on Azok, driving him back farther and farther. Kras attacked Azok's head with his stick, and Azok brought his up in a parry one. 

When the blades met, both shattered, sending shards, and flakes of wood all over the ring. Kras wasted no time, dropping his broken weapon, punching Azok in the face. Azok's nose crunched and blood sprayed out, covering Kras in it. Azok coughed once, just ducking to avoid a left hook. Kras axe-kicked Azok's shoulder, sending Azok to his knees. Azok was almost in a rage now. On the sidelines, Jaulis was about to call the match.

Kras went to roundhouse kick Azok's face, but Azok had grabbed his foot. Azok twisted, tripping Kras. Kras fell on his face, pushing himself back up. Azok leaped into the air, slamming Kras on his back. Kras' wrists weakened, and he fell back to the ground. Azok twisted Kras' left arm behind his back, pulling to the right, hard. Kras let out a bloodcurdling scream, and Jaulis Force-Pushed Azok off Kras.

"Stop!" he yelled. Azok, hesitantly, stood up, letting Kras stand up. But Kras couldn't. Azok has broken his arm. "Azok," Jaulis commanded, his voice stern. "Come with me." 

Azok followed Jaulis through one of the temples Azok had not gone into before. There were few students in this area, and the atmosphere was a lot darker. Eventually, Jaulis led Azok to a large room.

On all four walls of the room were vines, originating and disappearing at unknown locations. The ceiling was partially covered with vines, though it had a central circle carved in the stone, to let in sun and water, and to let out smoke. On the floor, there were two stone squares. Jaulis sat down at one, not bothering to tell Azok to sit on one. But Azok did anyway. 

"Azok," Jaulis began, rubbing his forehead.

"I'm sorry," Azok hastily said. 

"I know, I know," Jaulis repeated, still rubbing his forehead. "You are my favorite student here." Jaulis paused, not knowing how to continue what he was saying. Azok didn't know what to say. "That's why I feel I must tell you this."

"Tell me what?" Azok asked, his tone shifting from apologetic to curious.

"Kras, Kellian, Sadra, and the others in his gang are believed to be Imperial spies."

"Do you have any proof of this?" Azok asked.

"Not really," Jaulis said quietly. "That's what's stopping Master Skywalker from expelling them. We do, however, know that they have been trained basic abilities in the Force."

"From who?" Azok inquired.

"We aren't sure…yet. But we believe that they were trained by the dark Jedi Brakiss." Azok looked puzzled; he had never heard that name before.

"Who?"

"Brakiss was one of Luke's prize students. Unfortunately, he was an Imperial spy. Recently, he kidnapped some of our trainees. Almost all of them escaped. But we have some leads, and some Jedi students are investigating this."

"No offense," Azok started. "But how does this involve me?"

"Master Skywalker wants to speed up each Jedi's training." Jaulis locked eyes with Azok. "So I want you to be my padawan."

"Padawan?" Azok exclaimed, inhaling a sharp breath.

"Yes."

"But I thought each Knight was to take on several padawans at once, to train them faster."

"That is true," he confirmed. "So I have also sent requests to two other students." Immediately, Azok thought of Sali and Lyven. 

"Who?"

"Lyven Zedsai, and Vidor S'dal." Azok's heart sank. Although he selected Lyven, Azok had still hoped that he would accept Sali too. Then, breaking his thoughts, Jaulis continued. "I trust you already know them?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

**Chapter 4: **

Jaulis stood outside the great temple, next to the transport _DarkEye_, arms crossed. Azok emerged first, struggling to see his way through the darkness. When Azok saw _DarkEye_, he sighed, shaking his head gently. It was 4:00 AM. 

Lyven and Vidor came next, arriving at the same time. Jaulis' arms uncrossed, and he waved at them to come closer. Azok and Vidor introduced themselves to each other.

"Good morning," he said quickly. "Get in," he said, walking up the ramp of the_ DarkEye_. "I'll explain the mission on the way," he called form inside the transport. The trio looked at each other, and walked up the boarding ramp reluctantly. Azok was sad to leave without saying goodbye to Sali; she probably wouldn't even know where they had gone.

Once they were in, Jaulis clipped his seatbelt in. Azok looked towards his own broken seatbelt, which, to his surprise, had been repaired. With a boyish grin, he clipped it on.

"As I was saying…" Jaulis interjected, lifting the transport a few meters off the ground. The DarkEye rose shakily, but eventually passed the tree canopies, taking off out of the atmosphere. "…we're heading to Argex."

"Argex?" Vidor asked dubiously.

"Yep," Jaulis confirmed. "There was a recent report of suspicious Force-activity there. Master Skywalker suspects that it's the Shadow Academy." Azok knew what the Shadow Academy was. The Shadow Academy was a group of dark Jedi who were trained by one of Luke's fallen Jedi. They were hoping to re-grow the Empire. They often called themselves the Second Imperium.

"The Shadow Academy?" Azok questioned. "But we don't even have lightsabers yet." 

"Now you do," Jaulis commented, bringing three grayish cylinders from under his seat. "Take one," he said.

"But we haven't trained with real ones yet, master," Azok pointed out.

"I have confidence in your abilities."

"But we've only been here for like ten days," Lyven said. "I can't even do a Force-Push, nevertheless use a lightsaber the way everyone else does."

"Plus," Azok began. "a Jedi should make his or her own lightsaber."

"True," Jaulis admitted. "These lightsabers are only temporary. When we return from this mission, you'll build your own."

"Isn't that a bit sudden?" Azok asked. 

"I have faith in you," Jaulis responded, smiling. Azok wasn't sure he had faith in himself.

**In the planet Argex atmosphere…**

The _DarkEye_ descended into the precarious atmosphere of Argex. For the entire four-day trip, Azok and the others had practiced their Force-Pushed and Pulls. They had also practiced with the basics of using their new lightsabers. Azok had selected a yellow one, while Lyven and Vidor had chosen green ones. 

Still, even after that practice, Azok did not feel ready. Hopefully, he'd never have to use his lightsaber…or the Force for that matter.

Argex could barely be called a hospitable 'world'. It was sustained only by artificial atmosphere. Few plants grew there, and those that did, were weeds. In every one hundred square miles, there was a huge oxygen production facility, which supplied clean air to the population. Without all the oxygen facilities, the atmosphere would be reduced to thinly spread nitrogen.

The planet was only maintained for on purpose: the mines. Beneath the surface, hundreds of thousands of workers mined cortosis, a durable, resistant material. Galactic Mining Corp, GMC, worked thoroughly underneath the planet.

"Hold on," Jaulis warned, looking at his radar. "We've got company."

"Company?" Vidor asked, sitting up. He gripped his lightsaber tightly, although they would probably not be using it now.

"Yeah," Jaulis said remorsefully. "Two TIEs coming up from behind us. Azok, boost the shields."

"On it," Azok confirmed, flicking a switch with the Force. Using the Force, he slid a lever up. Jaulis looked approvingly at Azok and smiled.

"Maybe I can make contact with them," Jaulis wondered aloud. He picked up a comm. "This is transport _DarkEye_ calling TIE fighter. Do you copy?" There was a burst of static, and no response. "Do you copy?" Jaulis repeated. Just then, two green lasers lanced out, striking the back of _DarkEye_. 

"What now master?" Lyven asked, breathing quicker now.

"Vidor, get to the rear turbolaser cannon. See if you can shoot 'em down." As Vidor ran to the back of the ship, another pair of lasers struck the ship, wobbling it. 

"Don't you know any tricks?" Azok asked.

"Not really," Jaulis answered tightly. "I'm not so great with flying. Jaulis slid the shields lever up a little more. "We're approaching the ground. Just another minute…"

Three lasers shot out from the back of the transport, missing. The TIE fighters shot another barrage at the transport, striking the rear engines.

"We're not going to make it!" Jaulis called. "Vidor, get back here. Everyone, to the escape pod, now!" Azok, Lyven, Vidor and Jaulis rushed to the escape pod. As Vidor climbed in, all the_ DarkEye_'s lights went out. "The ship's lost power. Another direct hit and we're gone. We're descending too fast!"

"The escape pod's not responding!" Vidor yelled.

"Neither is the ship," Lyven added, his voice thick with panic. 

Then, _DarkEye_ slammed into the ground, it all turned to blackness.

**Unknown location…**

First, it was just Azok's mind. He tried to open his eyes, but they wouldn't respond. He felt as if he had lost all feeling. He tried to move his hands, but they were unresponsive. He couldn't breath. He wondered if he was still living. Maybe it was a dream.

Azok's eyes snapped open, his hands jerked up, and he inhaled deeply. He looked around the room he was in. It was a plain grey room, but he was surrounded by bars. Above, below, and to all sides of him, there were bars. Closely interlocking bars created a grating which imprisoned Azok from all sides. Azok was surprised that there were no guards on watch. So, all he had to do was slice through the bars with his lightsaber, and escape.

But Azok didn't have his lightsaber. And he had no idea where he was, so escaping might only drive him further into an unknown territory. He was about to reach out with the Force when a door slid open, revealing four stormtroopers and a caped, black figure.

The black figure stood higher than Azok, but only by about two inches. He was only a few years older than he too. His hair was jet-black, like Azok, his eyes a sickly yellow-orange. He wore black armor over his body, black boots, and a black cape. The cape was fastened with a dark magenta clasp, which was the only part of his outfit that wasn't black. Azok's gaze shifted towards the figure's lightsaber. Like the rest of his outfit, it was solid black. A red stripe lined the menacing cylinder, and the figure knew Azok's eyes were locked on the weapon. 

"Open," the figure said, his voice deep, but not horrific. The panel in front of Azok opened, and Azok stepped out. "I am Noces," he greeted. "You are the one they call Azok," he said after a pause. I am the commanding officer in the Argex region of the Remnant."

"The Imperial Remnant?" Azok blurted out.

"The very same," Noces verified, nodding his head.

"What do you want with us?"

"Us?" Noces asked. "I do not care for the older human at all. I am interested in training you for the Second Imperium." 

"Not interested."

"Very well then. Guards, kill him now." The four stormtroopers raised their rifles.

"No!" Azok yelled. "No….no." Noces took a step forward. 

"Have you changed your mind, Azok?"

"Fine. Just don't kill me." Azok had little intentions of actually following the Dark Side, but if he could find a way off wherever he was... 

"Fear of death is natural Azok." Noces took a deep breath. "For a long time I had it too. You will change. I can sense it."

"Jedi have no fear," Azok recited. Noces motioned for the guards to leave the room. All four stepped out, and the door closed.

"Then you are no Jedi. Nor are you a Dark Jedi…yet. Fear is a good motivator Azok. It helps keep you in check, keeps you safe. The corrupt Jedi shun fear because they believe it weakens them. But, as much as they cover it up, we know it is still there." Azok suddenly felt like his mind was being pushed into. A second later, he fell to his side, and he knew Noces was in. "But the Academy realizes the potential of fear, Azok."

"Gah…" Azok cried, his arms writhing in pain.

"What, Azok, do you fear?" Azok's mind felt like it was being hit with a metal pipe as Noces probed through his brain. "Fear for your own life. Fear…of another's…Who's this?" he teased. "A Jedi student? At Skywalker's pathetic institute…Sali Teck." Then, Azok's mind was free, though he felt like he had a serious headache. Azok tried to get up, but his arms felt too weakened. "But the Academy sees fear as a tool. You can manipulate fear into strength, into _power_. Get up Azok. We have wok to do."

**In a dark Jedi training facility on Argex…**

An hour later, Azok and Noces stood in a training room. Both Noces and Azok wielded thin swords of lightfoil.

"Azok," Noces called, simply. "Go ahead. Kill me." Azok knew he had a trick up his sleeve, but he tried anyway. Azok lunged at Noces, and was Force-slammed into the wall on his right. "Come on Azok. You can do better than that." Azok pushed himself off the wall, and sliced at Noces' neck.

Azok was Force-Pushed back into the wall, and held there. Azok struggled to break free, but he couldn't overpower Noces' Force-hold.

"Use your anger," Noces commanded. "Only then will you be able to free yourself." Noces stabbed Azok in his left thigh, and blood oozed out. Just then, the Force-hold was shattered, and Azok attacked. Noces was thrown off-guard for a second, but managed to bring his foil up high to parry the overhead attack. Noces followed up with a snap-kick at Azok's chest, which he sidestepped to the right, avoiding. 

"I did," Azok grunted. "But only so I can kill you." Azok spun back to the left, slashing back at Noces. The blade was parried, and Noces' axe-kick met Azok's right shoulder. Azok, using the momentum from his fall, rolled past Noces' left side. As he stood up, he brought his lightfoil diagonally up, slicing Noces' back. Noces' armor sparked at the sword scratched the material. 

Noces Force-slammed Azok back to the wall, and began a Force-grip. Azok felt an invisible force pushing on his neck, and he tried to grab it with his free left hand. But there was nothing there.

"Anger," Noces reminded him. "You can't win, can't _survive_, without it." Azok called on the Force, unleashing a small repulsion wave at Noces. Noces was pushed back about a foot, sliding on the metal floor. "Very good, for only being two weeks in the institute," Noces admitted.

Azok sliced at the right, and at the left. Noces blocked both with near-perfection.

"Anger must be used besides freeing yourself. Anger must be used for attacks." Azok put more force into his next attack, which was a vertical attack at Noces' head. Noces blocked, sliding his sword down at Azok's right hand. Azok leaped back, trying to Force-Push Noces back. Noces slid back about an inch. Then, Noces lifted Azok with the Force, and slammed him against the floor. The lightfoil was seized from his hand as Noces kicked him hard in the side.

"It was unfair," Azok said. "You're older than me." Noces kicked Azok in the side again.

"Life isn't fair, especially running across the galaxy saving people who don't give a kark about you. But, if you wish, I'll fetch another candidate, about your age, that you can fight."

**Dark Jedi training facility on Argex…**

Noces presented a new combatant to fight the bruised Azok. Azok looked at him; it was Kellian. Azok's eyes narrowed, and a sinister scowl came onto Kellian's fight.

"Skywalker was right," Noces said from the corner of the same room. "There were spies. But they're fulfilled their uses there. Now, they can perform more important tasks."

Before Noces gave the word, Kellian stabbed with his lightfoil sword. Azok pivoted on his right foot, not fast enough to dodge the attack. His lower chest was sliced a little, and blood ran down his grey jumpsuit, touching the open wound in his left thigh. Azok struck next, aiming at Kellian's neck. Kellian ducked, stabbing his weapon into Azok's existing wound in his thigh. Azok screamed in pain, slicing Kellian's right leg. It gave Azok a strange pleasure to draw blood from someone and, despite his own injuries, he smiled. 

From the corner of the room, Noces knew Azok was losing. Not by much though. Kellian was the superior fighter, and Noces knew it. But Kellian had been trained for several months now. Azok was new. 

Noces knew that this fight was crucial to Azok' future as a dark Jedi. If he won...if he won _using_ Noces' technique, his trust would grow in Noces, and in the Dark Side. And that, ultimately, was what was better for the Empire.

Conversely, if Azok won using a different technique, he would lose trust in the Dark Side. Plus, a win on Azok's part would only serve to further his arrogance, which would come back to hurt him later. It might also hurt the morale of Kellian, one of Noces' most prized students. 

Either way, Noces knew a win on both sides would help foster the already vicious rivalry between them. And that would be beneficial to the Empire, regardless of the outcome.

Noces re-concentrated on the fight, cognizing. Should he help Azok win the match? Does Azok need help winning the match? How will Kellian react to me if Azok wins? Will any of them find out I would have helped Azok?

Kellian stabbed at Azok's neck. Azok was to slow bringing up his foil. Noces had to act, now, or Azok might get mortally wounded. Noces moved Azok's sword quick enough to seem natural, and pushed Kellian's blade aside.

Azok slid the blade down Kellian's, cutting his fingers. Kellian stepped back, but tripped over his own feet. Really, it was Noces tripping him with the Force, but it didn't matter. Kellian fell backward, and Azok quickly took the opportunity. Azok launched himself on top of Kellian's weapon, slicing Kellian's right wrist. He recoiled in pain and Azok Force-Pushed him back a few feet. Crouching down, Azok picked up the weapon, tossing it to Noces.

Noces began applauding, Force-freezing the lightfoil sword in midair. Kellian stood up, scowling. He snatched the hovering weapon from the air in his left hand. Noces' expression turned to startled as Kellian threw the weapon. Azok, unsuspecting, didn't have time to block, or dodge, the weapon. Noces raised his hand, and the weapon froze. It was released, clattering to the ground.

"Enough," Noces commanded, his voice ice-cold. As if by invisible command, the door that they entered though, opened. Noces motioned for Kellian to leave, and he did, rushing out. Then, the door closed again, and Noces was left in the same room with Azok. "Well done Azok," he commended.

"Thank you," Azok replied. Noces thought Azok was warming up to him.

"You performed well, utilizing the raw power of the Dark Side. But you need much more practice."

"It was only because Kellian made that mistake at the end though," Azok pointed out.

"Kellian made a mistake in his form, and you exploited it. That's what battle is all about."

"I suppose," Azok muttered.

"In that battle, Azok, you were the better fighter. You won because of your power, not Kelian's mistake. Furthermore, you were already hurt from your battle with me a few minutes ago. You _won_, and that nobody's fault but your own." Noces' comm beeped. Noces pressed a button on it, and a quiet voice came out. "Alright," Noces spoke into the comm. "I'll be there shortly."

"What's happening?" Azok inquired as Noces opened the door with a wave of his hand. 

"Slight security problem, nothing to worry about. Somebody will escort you to a room to rest in." Noces strode out of the room, his next words echoing towards Azok. "And don't try anything." Azok didn't.

**In the corridors of the dark Jedi training facility on Argex…**

Jaulis twisted the stromtrooper's arm, hearing a loud _snap_. He pushed the body towards the other stormtrooper, yanking the E-11 blaster rifle from his hand as he shoved him. Switching the switch from KILL to STUN, Jaulis issued two blue arcs which knocked both men unconscious. Jaulis had just broken free from his cell, and was trying to escape. 

He rushed down the hallway, encountering another pair of stormtroopers. Before they could shoot, he pushed the tips of their rifles down with the Force. Instinctively, they shot, shooting only the cold, durasteel floor. Jaulis shot four arcs at the pair, knocking them unconscious too. He paused to check his surroundings.

He was in a long, seemingly endless corridor that twisted and turned in myriad directions, confusing him. About every twenty meters there was a door, durasteel, and locked. They all looked identical, except for the labels on them. Jaulis looked at the one to his right: turbine repair chamber. He glanced to his left: faculty cafeteria. 

Then, he heard footsteps. Not a pair of clunky armored feet, or a march of a guard droid, but softer. He reached out with the Force, reading the figure. He was a dark Jedi, Jaulis could sense. And he was strong. 

Before Jaulis stood a man about his own height. He was dressed lightly in black armor, matching the rest of his outfit. He held a red-striped lightsaber confidently, switching it on. The crimson blade_ snap-hissed_ to life, casting a pink light on the grey walls. His hair was black as Jaulis' own, though much longer and wavy, unlike Jaulis' rough, curly hair. However, the man was younger than Jaulis, by roughly five years or so. Jaulis doubted he was twenty.

"Jaulis, is it?" he asked lightly.

"Yes," Jaulis confirmed, raising his rifle. He knew it would do nothing to the trained foe before him, but it was his only weapon. "Who are you?"

"Noces," he said slowly and darkly. Immediately, using the Force, Noces slammed Jaulis into the right wall. Jaulis tried to create a Force-Shield, but he was too late. Jaulis rose up, his neck crashing into the ceiling. Jaulis managed to erect a Force-barrier then. "I thought better of you Jaulis," he mocked. "Azok appeared stronger than you."

"You know what they say about judging books," Jaulis said, a smile creeping onto his face. Jaulis shot a stun bolt at the man, but he absorbed it with his lightsaber. Jaulis shot again, and again. But Noces absorbed each bolt, slowly advancing towards Jaulis. Then, with a burst of Force-assisted speed, Noces rushed Jaulis, slicing the tip off Jaulis' stolen rifle. Noces brought his lightsaber back around, slicing off Jaulis' right hand. The severed, superheated appendage fell to the ground, as Noces slammed the hilt of the lightsaber against Jaulis' forehead. Jaulis fell down, falling into blackness


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

**Chapter 5:**

Jaulis awoke in a cold, grey, windowless cell, rubbing his head. Then, he remembered he no longer had a left hand. He switched to his right one, rubbing his forehead. There were no guards in the room, but the solid durasteel door was most likely locked. Another escape attempt was futile.

Gathering his concentration, and calling on the Force, he tried to locate his three padawans. In a matter of seconds, he had keyed on to each of their locations. He began to communicate telepathically with Azok.

"_Azok? Azok?"_

"_Who is this?"_

"_Jaulis. We have to get out of here."_

"_I know."_

"_Did they do anything to you?" _Azok paused for a moment, and thought whether it would be better to tell him or not.

"_Not really."_

"_Good. I tried to escape earlier, but I was caught. I lost my left hand."_

"_Well, we can't just break out; my cell's locked."_

"_So is mine. But it might be possible to break down your door with the Force. Are there any guards where you are?"_

"_No, but I'm pretty sure there are some outside."_

"_Do you remember that technique I tried to teach you while we were in hyperspace? The one where you touch people's minds?"_ Azok remembered that. He had tried to penetrate Lyven's mind and knock him unconscious. It didn't work.

"_Yeah. But I don't think it will work on the guards. I'm not that good at it."_

"_Well, try it anyway."_

"_Hold on, my door's opening. It's the dark Jedi."_

"_Who?"_

"_He called himself Noces."_

"_That's the one who cut off my hand."_

"_I'll try to break you out. He might be reading my mind." _

Azok cut off the telekinetic conversation. He feared that Noces was reading his mind.

"Good afternoon, Azok," he greeted him. Azok scowled at the dark Jedi, saying,

"Hello." Noces sensed some anger in Azok, and flashed him a quick smirk.

"Come with me. I want to show you something."

**Argex, central computer chamber…**

Azok followed Noces for about six minutes, before coming to a strange looking room. It was huge, and housed a central computer. Blue lights blinked and glowed in the chamber, casting an eerie light in the room.

Four technicians were sitting at the chairs next to the computer, slowly performing standard diagnostics on the computer.

"Azok, do you know what room we are in?"

"No," Azok said softly.

"We are in the central regulation chamber. This room controls all oxygen facilities on Argex. At the push of a few buttons, all oxygen production facilities on Argex will shut down. In a few days, all oxygen will be breathed in, or escaped into space. And, all inhabitants on the planet…will be killed." Noces leaned forward, whispering in Azok's ear. "So don't try escaping with Jaulis. Or I'll kill all the miners below the surface."

"No," Azok exclaimed, Force grabbing Noces' lightsaber. Noces leaped back as the scarlet blade ignited. The hue of light on the wall turned purple. "Not if I kill you now."

"Azok…Azok…" Noces began. "You can't kill me. Technician, prepare the operation." Azok glanced back, and a technician rapidly entered a sequence of buttons. "Prepare to begin."

Azok was torn. He had to stop Noces from killing all those people.

"You'd kill all those people? Why?"

"I don't want to Azok. But if you and Jaulis want to escape, there must be consequences. I can't let four Jedi escape. This is more of a hostage situation. If you leave, innocent people die."

"You'd kill hundreds of thousands of people to make sure I don't leave?"

"Millions," Noces corrected. "A little over eight million to be exact. Azok, you don't understand."

"I understand that you're insane," Azok said, stabbing with the crimson sword. It hit Noces' breastplate, but didn't go in. The blade shut off immediately.

"No. Azok, you have a special destiny. Letting you escape would ruin-" Noces was cut off. Azok felt a familiar presence….Jaulis. "Enter the code now!" The technicians pressed a few buttons. Noces spun around, knowing Jaulis was near. He was nearer than he expected.

Jaulis was right behind him. Jaulis punched Noces squarely in the face, knocking him out cold. Behind Jaulis, Azok saw Lyven standing.

"Come on," Jaulis said. Azok motioned to Noces.

"What about the technicians? What about Noces?"

"Leave them," Jaulis said.

"They can reverse it!"

"Reverse what?" Jaulis asked.

"Noces said that the technicians shut down all the oxygen buildings. The oxygen buildings are going to stop making oxygen. Without the oxygen, all the people on Argex will die!" Jaulis looked at the technicians.

Jaulis entered the room, snatching the lightsaber from Azok with his right hand.

"Reverse it," Jaulis commanded.

"It is impossible," one of the technicians said. "Once it starts, it cannot be stopped. We don't know how to stop it now." Jaulis quickly searched their minds; they were telling the truth. Jaulis growled lightly. "Let's just go," he said, handing the lightsaber back to Azok. "Before guards arrive."

**Dark Jedi training facility, Argex, near the hanger bay…**

Azok, still holding the ignited lightsaber, followed Jaulis to the hanger bay. There were two stromtroopers waiting at the gate, which raised their blaster rifles at them. With a quick Force-Push from Jaulis, both fell unconscious. Jaulis pulled a key card from one's belt, and opened the hanger door.

Over twenty stromtroopers guarded the area, along with one dark Jedi. When the door opened, all the stormtroopers' attention turned toward them. Azok deflected a quick blaster bolt, then Jaulis Force-Pushed all the stromtroopers down. Lyven ran for cover. The dark Jedi approached Azok.

"My master's lightsaber," he demanded. Without a word, Azok swiped high, and to the side. The dark Jedi parried both, stabbing at Azok. Azok swiveled on his left foot, inverting his lightsaber. Azok slid the energy weapon down his, breaking his lightsaber in half. He screamed when his lightsaber broke, Force-Pushing Azok to the wall.

Blaster fire rang out as Jaulis and Lyven shot at the stormtroopers (on stun, of course). The stromtroopers shot back, though none aimed at Azok. The dark Jedi ran to the wall, calling for backup. Within a minute, all the stormtroopers were stunned or killed, while Lyven, Jaulis and Azok remained safe. The dark Jedi was still left.

"I'll handle him," Jaulis said, taking the red lightsaber from Azok. "It's been a long time," he muttered under his breath. Azok didn't hear what he said. "Start any ship that can make a jump!" Lyven ran to an Imperial shuttle, lowering the access ramp.

As Lyven entered the shuttle, Azok's gaze was thrown to the duel between the dark Jedi and Jaulis. The dark Jedi let out a burst of lightning which Jaulis absorbed. Then, the dark Jedi began to Force-Grip Jaulis. Jaulis rose a few inches off the ground, his throat contracting. Azok looked for something to pick up, and noticed the remains of the dark Jedi's lightsaber. He picked up the larger half, throwing it at the dark Jedi.

It didn't do anything; his concentration was too good. Jaulis flicked the red lightsaber on lock, and threw it. To avoid having his legs chopped off, the dark Jedi jumped, breaking his concentration. Jaulis Force-Pushed him against the wall, knocking him unconscious.

"In the ship, now!" Jaulis ordered. Jaulis bolted into the shuttle; Azok didn't. Instead, he crouched down next to the other half of the severed lightsaber handle. Azok felt a small tug to examine it. Azok grabbed a small red crystal from inside it, studying it. He didn't really know why. "Get in the ship!" Jaulis yelled. Hurriedly, Azok pocketed the crystal. Then, the door opened. Standing there, full clad in black armor, was Noces, accompanied by four stormtroopers.

Azok turned to run to the shuttle, but he was pulled back with the Force. A few meters before he reached Noces, Jaulis began pulling. Azok was tugged in two directions now, like two stubborn children playing a tug of war. Azok was the rope, while Noces and Jaulis were the children. And, like children, neither would give up. But, unlike tug of war, this test wasn't physical strength; it was mental. A test of which one wanted Azok more, and who would get him. Azok began Force-Pulling himself to Jaulis.

"Shall I shoot him, Commander?" a stormtrooper asked. Noces raised his hand in warning.

"No, Azok must decide what he wants."

"Azok?" the stormtrooper questioned. "How is this what Azok wants?" Noces raised his hand again.

"It's complicated. Too much so for a simple stormtrooper."

"Apologies, Commander Noces." In the tug of war, Jaulis had nearly won…with the assistance of another child, Azok. Azok was pulled into the shuttle with a final Force-Pull. The ramp closed. Azok stood up inside the shuttle, brushing himself off.

"You go in the shuttle when I tell you to Azok. We nearly lost you there. Lyven, get us out of here."

_If you leave, innocent people die._

The words reverberated inside Azok's skull. _If you leave,__** innocent **__people die. If you leave, __**innocent**__ people__** die**_

"No," Azok interrupted. "Master, we can't leave."

"Why not Azok?"

"Millions of people will die. The oxygen facilities are stopped."

"After we make the jump, we'll signal Coruscant, and tell them about the threat. They'll make it here in time to fix the oxygen facilities and save everyone. Don't worry."

"What if they don't?" Azok asked, concerned.

"They will," Jaulis whispered. "They will."

**Yavin 4, Academy…**

The journey back to Yavin 4 seemed to take an eternity. Jaulis spent most of his time meditating in his chamber, while Lyven practiced Force-Lifting objects. Azok spent most of his time thinking. _How could Jaulis leave Vidor on Argex? What about all those miners?_ However, whenever he searched for an answer, more questions kept popping back up. Azok didn't find any answers.

The boarding ramp descended onto the top of the Temple ziggurat. Although Jaulis identified himself over the comm, many of the students, knights, and masters were still dubious. When they exited the Imperial shuttle, they saw about twenty Jedi, lightsabers ignited, ready to face the supposed army of Imperials. Luke Skywalker, however, stood, lightsaber safely clipped to his belt, arms wide open in a warm gesture of welcome.

"Welcome back, Jaulis," Luke said, immediately noticing Jaulis' stump of an arm. "What happened to your hand?" he asked compassionately.

"We'll talk about it later, Master Skywalker. I think my padawans need a little bit of rest right now."

"Speaking of your padawans, Knight Jaulis," Aqell began. "What happened to young Vidor?"

"Later," Jaulis repeated. I think all of us could use some rest." Luke Skywalker looked a bit suspicious, but he didn't ask any questions.

"Cilghal will take you to the medical bay, for a prosthetic hand."

"Good," Jaulis said quietly.

Jaulis, Cilghal, and Luke descended down the turbolift, followed by the throng of students that had assembled at the top of the ziggurat. It was just Azok and Lyven.

"So when do you think we're going to start building our lightsabers?" Lyven asked, pressing the SUMMON button on the turbolift.

"I doubt Jaulis will let us build them," Azok said, checking hi pocket. The red crystal was still there. Azok's tension faded partially away.

"Why not?"

"Jaulis just lost his hand to a lightsaber. I think his experience will," Azok was cut off by a beep; the turbolift doors opened. Both padawans stepped in, and the doors closed. As they began to descend, Azok continued. "His experience has probably reminded him of how dangerous lightsabers are. I think he's afraid we're going to start cutting off our own hands or something."

"Pff. We're more responsible than that."

"Jaulis just wants to be careful," Azok assured him.

"We can handle it," He complained.

"Yes," Azok said. The doors opened, and Azok stepped out. Lyven followed him.

"Where are you going?" Lyven asked.

"I was going to spar against some of the students," Azok replied casually.

"Students?"

"Yeah," Azok replied. "Why?"

"Well, you're a padawan now. We're padawans now. Students are easier than padawans."

"Better for me," Azok commented lightly.

"Not for them though." Azok sighed.

"Fine. I'll duel against a padawan then. If you want it so much…" Azok chuckled softly. "Oh, I see. You want to duel me. Don't you?" Azok grinned.

"No, but I would beat you easily," Lyven said confidently.

"Prove it," Azok challenged. "Get a training wooden stick. I'll enjoy embarrassing you."

"I'm sorry, Azok, but I'm about to rob you of that pleasure."

**Yavin 4, student battle circle…**

Azok and Lyven faced each other, Azok concentrating on reading Lyven's thoughts. Lyven had created a Force barrier around his mind, protecting it from being read. Azok could still future sense though.

"First three hits to win?" Azok questioned.

"Sounds good to me," Lyven asserted. "It doesn't really matter; I'm going to win either way."

"Suit yourself Lyven. Soak in your own arrogance."

"My arrogance," Lyven inquired, half jocular and half offended. Lyven brandished his weapon, swinging it in a practice form. "We'll see about that after this is through." And so the match began.

Azok swept to the right, but Lyven was a step ahead. Lyven ducked under the sword, stabbing Azok's right leg. Azok recoiled from the hit, moving his sword down, at Lyven's head. But Lyven wasn't there; he had already backed up, standing up.

"That's one, Azok," he said, waving the wooden stick he held. Azok turned to look at the crowd slowly gathering around them.

"Oooh, there's a duel here," one called out.

"Go Azok," another cheered. Apparently, Azok still had some lingering fame since defeating Kellian and his gang. Azok re-focused himself, ensuring that he wouldn't be disrupted during the match. _Don't let personal pride get to your head_, Jaulis had said to them aboard the stolen shuttle. Azok's smirk faded as he remembered that Lyven had also been given the advice. Perhaps he wouldn't use it in this duel.

"Still willing to continue, Azok?" Lyven teased. "Or are you giving up?" Lyven was just mocking him, but it had its desired effect. Azok, in a mild rage, attacked quickly: high, low, right, high, right. Lyven had foreseen them all, and, as usual, was one step ahead. Lyven blocked all the strikes with near-perfection, and pivoted on his right foot. He ducked to avoid another swipe, and struck Azok's left Achilles heel. Azok's stance buckled, Lyven backing off.

"C'mon Azok," a voice in the crowd yelled. "You can still win." Azok gripped his weapon tighter. _I'm not so sure that I can anymore_, Azok thought. Personal pride couldn't get to Azok's head--he hardly had any left. Lyven was embarrassing him. _How can I beat someone who's one or two step ahead of me? How do I stop his mind-reading?_ Azok hadn't yet learned to create Force-Shields around his mind, so all his moves were anticipated. Unless…he stopped thinking.

Azok struck high, left, high, left, right, but Lyven blocked al of them with more perfection than before. Lyven stabbed at Azok's neck, but Azok dodged it, leaping backwards. _That plan isn't working._ _What if I outthink him? _Azok began to see ahead with the Force. Every second, the future kept changing. _Always in motion, the future is._ Luke had said that a lot; he had said that Master Yoda told him that mantra.

Azok abandoned that strategy. He knew there was only one left, the one that Noces had taught him, the path of the Dark Side: Anger. Controlled anger, not rage that he had tried earlier, but not a vile hatred. Perhaps that method would work. It worked against him on Kras, when both blades shattered.

Azok struck high, powerfully. The blade bounced off Lyven's, sending Lyven's downward a little further. The clash of sticks made a loud noise, summoning more eager students to the makeshift arena. Again, Azok slashed high, and the blades roared with noise. Azok bounded back, regaining his footing.

"Having trouble gripping your sword, Lyven," he teased.

"I still have all three contacts left, Azok. You have one."

"Your skills are excellent," Azok complimented. Azok hoped the praise would go to his head.

"Don't try flattering me Azok." Azok was wrong.

"As you wish. Then I'll admit it: you're a terrible swordsman."

"_You're_ losing, Azok," he shouted bitterly. Azok could still get to him. "I'm going to beat you."

"I don't think so, Lyven. You forget that I'm better than you." Azok was hoping, _hoping_ that his comments would help confuse Lyven's strategy. Furthermore, Lyven would think Azok was in a state of overconfidence, when he really wasn't. Lyven would be at two disadvantages, hopefully enough to bring him into a rage.

It was Lyven's turn to attack. Lyven attacked high, but Azok had been one step ahead this time. Azok blocked his strike, pushing his blade away with the Force. Lyven had been so caught up in his attack that he failed to see it coming. Azok struck him under his left arm, pushing Lyven away from him.

"That's one," Azok taunted. Lyven, enraged, struck at Azok again. Azok blocked the strike forcefully, shattering the top half of Lyven's weapon. Azok came down, lightly tapping Lyven's head. "Two," he mocked. Lyven staggered backward, gathering himself. He pulled himself out of his rage. "Still want to continue?" Lyven brushed sweat from his forehead.

"Of course I want to continue!"

"As you wish," Azok said, vigorously slicing at Lyven. Lyven leaped up in the air, avoiding the attack. He flipped over Azok, aiming his stub of wood. Lyven threw it, a last resort for beating Azok. Azok jumped up just in time to avoid it, backflipping to land next to Lyven. Landing softly, he tapped Lyven's right shoulder. "And that's three. Win." A cheer erupted form the circle of students around them, and, grudgingly, Lyven shook his hand. The applause died down as the students scattered, leaving one person left clapping: Jaulis.

"Congratulations, Azok," he said, clapping. It was only then that Azok realized that he had a working left hand, a quality prosthetic created by Jedi engineers, and connected to his wrist stump by Cilghal. "But I need a word with you."

**Unknown space station…**

Noces, clad in black armor, stood, hands clasped behind his back next to the holoprojector. On the other end of the transmission, appearing in blue armor, though her real armor was a dark red, was Lady Adana. In person she appeared more beautiful than she was over the holoprojector, with cascading blond hair to her shoulder, and sparkling silvery eyes.

But her appearance was totally deceptive. She was in her mid-twenties, and, in Noces' opinion, was more attractive than a holodrama star. She had killed over ten Jedi in the past year, and had been gaining an unpleasant reputation among the High Jedi Council. Lady Adana was rumored to have a collection of her victims' lightsabers, though nobody had ever been reported to seen them.

It was not solely among the Jedi Council that she was notorious and infamous. She held the death sentence on over twenty systems as a professional anarchist (if such a title exists), and instigated over ten interplanetary wars, though none lasted over three years.

She was said to command a Force talent equal to a Jedi Master, and dueling skills that rivaled a Mandalorian. Her name had become legend in her mere four years working for the Empire. Now, however, she was not happy.

"How did you let them escape?" she demanded, her voice icy.

"They were coordinated, and my stormtroopers were unprepared."

"Do not make excuses Noces. Do not forget that I am in command of the Empire, not you. Should you anger me, I might tell Brakiss of your ineptitude."

"My apologies, Lady Adana-"

"You, Noces, are unworthy to refer to me by my name. It is a grand privilege that we are communicating right now."

"My apologies. But we still have one."

"What?" she demanded loudly.

"We still have one of the Jedi trainees. A student named Vidor." There was a pause. Lady Adana stood motionless, clearly thinking.

"Very well Noces. Perhaps you will not be reported to Brakiss…yet," she threatened. "Tell me, in what ship did the Jedi escape in?"

"Excuse me?"

"What ship did the Jedi escape in?" she shouted.

"An-an Imperial _Lambda_-class shuttle," Noces stammered.

"What is its identification number?"

"I do not know your highness," Noces announced.

"FIND OUT NOW!" Adana screamed. In less than ten seconds, Noces had left and reappeared at the holoscreen.

"Identification number XON-324, your highness."

"Good. The Jedi will return to you in time. All three of them…and a fourth." She paused, putting a Force-grip on Noces. Noces struggled at his neck, fighting off an invisible hand. "And when they do, you will capture them. Capture them all. There can be no mistakes in this Noces. Is this understood?"

Noces thrash about at his neck, but he could not speak. "Y-Y-Yes," he whispered.

"Good. Now, go back to Argex and wait there." she said, breaking the grip on Noces. Noces collapsed to his knees, inhaling deeply and rapidly. "You know the consequences of failure."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

**Chapter 6:**

For about thirty seconds Jaulis and Azok walked in silence, Azok unsure what to say, and Jaulis resilient to say what he wanted to. Jaulis led Azok down a side corridor, abandoned of other Jedi. Finally, Jaulis spoke.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about a number of things Azok," he began, exhaling quietly but slowly. First off, I'd like to congratulate you on your victory in the duel arena." The instant Jaulis let the words out he regretted them. As much as Jaulis didn't like to admit it, the conversation between them was like a carefully played game of politics, or dejarik.

"Thank you," Azok said softly. Jaulis had stopped walking; Azok stopped too, shifting his gaze from the stone tiled floor to Jaulis' face. Azok stood there patiently, waiting for Jaulis to continue. Azok knew he'd said something unpleasant, which the previous compliment was meant to mask. After the criticism, Jaulis would probably follow up with a compliment, lessening the hurt the following disapproval was about to make. "And the second thing?" Azok goaded politely.

"In your duel a couple moments ago…" Jaulis took in a deep breath, held it for a second, then released it. "You succumbed to anger."

"So?" Azok retorted, as if it were meaningless.

"Anger is on the pathway to the Dark Side. In your fight with Kras and Kellian, you touched on the Dark Side." Azok froze. How did Jaulis know about his fight with Kellian? If he knew about that fight, did he know about Noces too? And the red crystal he had stolen? Azok broke a sweat, small beads forming on his forehead.

"You knew about that?" Azok inquired, artificially sheepish.

"Yes. I have access to all the video cameras in the Temple. When I sensed danger in the Force while you were in kitchen duty, I checked them." Azok let out a deep breath, drawing a suspicious look from Jaulis. Jaulis only knew about _that_ fight, not the one on Argex. "Anyway, as my padawan, I'm concerned about your drifting. The path of a Jedi is not easy Azok. At times you will be tempted to use the Dark Side, like your duel with Lyven a minute back. Bt you must fin other ways to defeat your opponents Azok." Jaulis stared into Azok's green eyes, as if searching his soul. Azok squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop it. When he opened them a second later, Jaulis was looking at the ceiling.

"But Lyven was too good," Azok complained, blurting the comment out.

"Even so, the Dark Side can do terrible things to a person. Several years back, I was told a story about Exar Kun." Before Azok could query who Exar Kun was, Jaulis continued. "Exar Kun, a notable Sith Lord, who was corrupted by the Dark Side of the Force. His slaves, the Massassi, were forced to construct the temples here on Yavin 4."

"Exar Kun lived here, on Yavin 4?" Azok asked dubiously.

"Yes, for a long time. Eventually, the Jedi sent a large fleet to this moon, and Exar was vastly outnumbered. He had no ships, nevertheless any pilots, except maybe the Massassi, to fly them. As the orbital bombardment happened, Exar summoned all the Massassi's life force. Using it, he trapped himself in a grand temple, becoming a Force Spirit. A few years ago, I was told, his spirit corrupted one of Master Skywalker's Jedi students, and killed another. I'll make a long story short: Exar Kun is long gone now, fortunately."

"No offense master, but how does this pertain to me?"

"It's just…it's just a tale about a Sith," Jaulis admitted. Jaulis was a little confused himself; somehow, he had derailed himself from his intended point. "Anyway, I have one more thing to talk to you about. After how you handled yourself on Argex, I think you're ready to build your own lightsaber. Normally, a student would have to attend the Academy for about four months before crating a lightsaber, but I think I can make an exception for you and Lyven.

"But be warned Azok," Jaulis cautioned. "Creating a lightsaber is not an easy task. You have to assemble the proper components, and meditate on a crystal. And it may take several weeks."

"I've heard that some lightsabers can have more than one crystal though," Azok commented.

"That's true, some can. Usually, there's one color crystal, and one or two special crystals. But, Jedi have been known to have more than one color crystal, or no color crystal."

"What color would it be then?"

"Pure white. I have faith that you'll build our lightsaber properly. Last week, one student didn't build her lightsaber well enough."

"What happened?" Azok asked.

"In a practice duel, her hand was cut off," Jaulis warned sternly. "But you'll build a safe one; I'm sure."

"Master," Azok began, clearing his voice. "I have two questions."

"Go ahead," Jaulis welcomed.

"Did the New Republic ever send aid to the facility and miners on Argex?"

"Not yet, Azok. But they will, I promise."

"How could you leave Vidor on the facility with the dark Jedi?"

"It was not an easy decision Azok. Abandoning a student, abandoning a _friend_ is never an easy thing to do. But we wouldn't have escaped if we had rescued him. We might still be imprisoned on Argex, and the miners would still be in danger, as would all of us. Being a Jedi means making difficult, and often lose-lose decisions. As Jedi, we have to choose the lesser evil."

"I understand," Azok said. He didn't.

**Yavin 4 Academy…**

A week passed as Azok began building his lightsaber. Azok filled Sali in about most of his mission, omitting the part about Kellian, and his duel with Noces. He didn't tell her about the red crystal he stole, though he felt an increased pressure to do so.

Despite his intense battle with Lyven, they had gotten closer. The trio of them were becoming more well-known at the Academy, Azok more so than any of his friends. Sali rejoiced in hearing that she was accepted as Jedi Knight Illias' padawan.

Illias, a Nami, looked nearly identical to humans. The only real difference was that her skin tone was a slight shade of orange. Her hair, like Azok and Jaulis, was black, though hers hung down her back for a few inches. She was about Jaulis' age, though, in Azok's opinion, was less experienced.

Azok had nearly completed his lightsaber. All that he needed was a crystal. He couldn't use the red one; that would be far too suspicious. But he did feel a bond with the crimson crystal, and he wanted to incorporate it into his lightsaber. Didn't Jaulis say that some Jedi put more than one color crystal in their blade before?

Azok went into the jungle on Yavin 4. Jaulis had previously mentioned that near a volcanic region of the moon, there were crystals for lightsabers. So Azok went there, and, after a thorough search, he had found a yellow lightsaber crystal. Now, it was time to test the crystals.

**Yavin 4 Temple, Azok's dorm…**

Azok sat, staring at the hilt he had constructed. The hilt itself was made from a cortosis alloy, enough to repel a lightsaber blade, but not enough to short it out. That should protect against his lightsaber being destroyed by other lightsabers. The hilt itself was smooth, and a dark grey. It had three knobs on the hilt itself: one to turn the blade on, one to adjust the power setting, and the other to adjust the length, though Azok could only change it by a few inches in either direction.

In addition to the three knobs, there was a switch near the ignition end of the lightsaber. That was the LOCK button. If Azok flicked that switch, the lightsaber would stay ignited if he threw it, dropped it, or lost it. Azok had meditated on his yellow crystal and his red one. If all worked out, a perfect orange color blade should emerge from the tip.

Just to be safe, Azok placed the lightsaber on the desk farthest from his bed. Azok heard tales of lightsabers exploding if not properly built, or blades shorting out in the middle of a battle. The cortosis alloy hilt, Azok thought, would contain any explosion within the lightsaber, destroying just the inside. He would have to start all over, and get new crystals, but at least he wouldn't be harmed.

It was time. Using the Force, Azok flicked the ON switch. A clear orange beam lanced out with a distinct _snap-hiss_, illuminating the otherwise dim chamber. Azok Force-Pulled the handle to his hand, feeling the energy pulse through him. The lightsaber was part of him, an extension of his body. And, best of all, it was _his_ own.

As if Jaulis had sensed the blade turn on, he knocked on his metal door suddenly. Azok had been so excited that his lightsaber was working, he failed to notice Jaulis approach. Azok opened the door, pressing a green switch. Jaulis smiled at Azok's new lightsaber, and Azok powered it down.

"Yes master?" Azok said, beaming.

"Congratulations on your lightsaber Azok. I am impressed. But there are more pressing issues."

"What about?" Azok asked, clipping his new creation to his belt.

"Remember the incident on Argex, Azok?" Azok did. By leaving, Azok had caused millions of miners to be without oxygen. Now, about ten days later, their supply would soon run out. "The New Republic stepped in."

"Good," Azok said. "But that's not really an issue for us, right?"

"Unfortunately, it is. They sent an attack and occupation fleet a few days ago. They were defeated. Apparently, the Second Imperium's fleet was able to repulse them, and the fleet was destroyed and driven off."

"So the miners are just going to die?" Azok complained.

"Not quite. _We_ are their last resort."

"We're going back?" Azok asked. "But they have a huge fleet around Argex, we'll never be able to get in."

"Not quite," Jaulis repeated. "We have a stolen Imperial shuttle. Our objective will be to sneak in, re-activate the oxygen production facilities, and sneak back out. This should buy the miners enough time to hold on for another few days. The New Republic fleet will regroup, and strike hard and fast. They'll crush the Empire's grip on Argex, reclaim the cortosis mines, and keep the oxygen facilities working. And, if all goes as planned, we'll even rescue Vidor. But that's Lyven's objective."

"All three of us are going?"

"Four, actually. Jedi Master Essri Defora is accompanying us." Azok knew Essri She was an aging female Jedi Master. Human, with graying hair pulled back in a bun, her age had not deducted from her strength. She was a member of the Jedi Council on Yavin 4, a respected veteran from the Galactic Civil War. According to her, she was discovered as a Force-sensitive when she was about twenty, during the Clone Wars. The Jedi refused to take her in, and she didn't join either side in the Clone Wars, thinking both sides to be evil.

It was only after the war was over that Essri realized who had won: neither. The Empire closed its grip on the galaxy, and she regretted her decision to abstain from the war. So, she joined the Rebellion in its early days as a computer hacker. She was caught, not for assisting the Rebellion, but for hacking into The Empire's databanks. She was detained for the rest of her life in prison. There, she taught herself rudimentary skills with the Force for over twenty years. When the Empire fell, she was released and joined Luke and his Academy on Yavin 4.

"She has the computer skills necessary, hopefully, to put the oxygen facilities back online. And, just in case, I'm bringing an Astromech droid with us to help hack in. We leave in one hour Azok. Pack quickly."

**En route from Yavin 4 to Argex, in hyperspace, aboard Imperial shuttle XON-324…**

It disturbed Azok, and yet excited him in the same way, that he never knew where he was going the day he woke up. Teenagers across the galaxy probably knew where their days would be spent: going to school, hanging out with friends, and going home. They would probably never go on such important adventures as Azok and Jaulis, rescuing millions of people stranded below a planet's crust. They would most likely never lose friends to stormtrooper attacks either.

Azok wondered which side had it better. Azok himself, preferred his new life over his old one. He hadn't talked much to anybody, even his friends, about his old life. Azok had cast aside that life. His new one was better.

Before they left, this time, Azok had a chance to say goodbye to Sali. Lyven was on the stolen Imperial shuttle with him, also having constructed his lightsaber. His hilt was a grey-brown--almost gold--metal, with ridges around the center. His blade was a turquoise-blue. Now they sat, playing dejarik, in the shuttle's main cabin, while Jaulis slept, and Essri sat at the helm.

"Ng'ok to crush your K'lor'slug," Lyven said, proudly moving his piece to kill Azok's. Azok studied the board. Lyven had just let his kintan strider open to attack from Azok's Monnok. Azok looked around the board. Was it a bluff? Was Lyven using the kintan strider death gambit? _Perhaps it doesn't all have to be bluffs_, Azok thought.

"Monnok to Lyven's kintan strider." The Monnok, a reddish humanoid, walked up behind the kintan strider, whacking it over the head with his blunt club. The kintan strider's hologram vanished from the table.

"Good move," Lyven said absent-mindedly. "Ng'ok move to Azok's Monnok." The tan-colored, tentacle whipping, Ng'ok war beast moved up to the Monnok, strangling it. Azok laughed lightly, drawing a curious stare from Lyven. Azok stopped.

"And my kintan strider takes your Ng'ok. Game."

"_Stang_," Lyven said, standing up.

"Again?" Azok asked."

"Alright. I have to beat your three-win streak sometime."

"Four," Azok corrected.

"Whatever," Lyven said, shaking his head in disbelief. The holograms set themselves up again, appearing in their starting positions.

"Computer says you go first," Azok said.

They played on for two more matches, Azok winning both. Finally, after his sixth loss in a row, Lyven suddenly asked Azok, "You like her, don't you?" Azok furrowed his brow, reclining on the dull-gray sofa. For an Imperial shuttle, it was quite comfortable.

"Who?" Azok finally asked. Azok knew who Lyven was talking about, but he so desperately did not want to have this conversation. Azok started looking for escape routes from the discussion. This wasn't like dejarik; Azok couldn't trick Lyven into moving one way, surround him, and kill his creatures. Azok knew Lyven was serious.

"Sali," Lyven said. Azok pulled his gaze off Lyven, as if it were impossible to answer if they were not looking at each other.

"I know she likes me," Azok said. Azok could feel Lyven's stare on him, and Azok still didn't look up.

"Do you like her?" Azok exhaled.

"She's my friend," Azok said. It wasn't really a lie; they _were_ friends. Now, Azok had to outmaneuver Lyven. _Maybe this conversation _is_ like dejarik._ "But we're not involved or anything." A second before Lyven could follow up with another question, Azok continued "Why?"

_If this were a dejarik game_, Azok thought. _I would've just taken his precious Ng'ok._

"I'm just curious. You spend a lot of time near her." _He's positioning his kintan strider for the kill. But what creature is he going for, my Ng'ok, or my Monnok?_

"That's what friends do," Azok said, wrenching his gaze back on Lyven. Suddenly, now that he was winning, he felt like he could look at Lyven. _And you lose your Mantellian Savrip. Now…which of my figures is he going to take?_

"You never answered my original question?" Lyven said, forcing Azok's gaze back off him. _He just took _my_ Mantellian Savrip._ _He's surrounding me. I've got to go for a kintan strider death gambit…it's the only way._

"No," Azok lied. _My kintan strider is poised for slaughter. Would he take the bait?_

"Yes you do," Lyven pressed. _He fell for the bluff_, Azok thought, moving his gaze back on to Lyven. _Now, for the kill. Ng'ok to his Ghhhk._

"Are you calling me a liar?" _Ng'ok to his kintan strider. I'm on the eve of victory now._

"Well, I can feel how you are around her." _And, now, to close this gap. Ng'ok to Houjix. Game._

"Well-" Azok never got to kill the Houjix, Jaulis came up behind them.

"Lyven," Jaulis said. "The hyperdrive's a bit damaged. Grab a tool box." _No! My Ng'ok! The dejarik board reset itself! _The conversation had been interrupted; the dejarik board reset.

**On board Imperial shuttle XON-324, outside planet Argex…**

For the rest of the journey, no dejarik games were played. No dejarik of any kind. The hyperdrive was only a bit broken, not even enough to shorten their trip. Still, Azok suspected, Lyven was grateful for being saved at the last second. Now, they had just emerged out of hyperspace, looking at the fleet amassed before them.

"Wow," Jaulis said. "I've never seen so many ships in one place." Past the viewport, there were at least one thousand TIE Fighters, performing routine flying cycles. There were about ten warships hovering around the planet, surrounded by hundreds of small space crafts.

"It's a good thing we have the access codes," Lyven said, forcing a small chuckle out. Essri gave him a peculiar glance.

"Attention, shuttle XON-324," a voice said over the comm. Jaulis motioned for them all to be quiet. "You have just emerged from hyperspace. What is your destination?" Jaulis flicked the comm on.

"We are going to land on the central oxygen production facility."

"What is your purpose there?" the voice asked. Jaulis' mind raced. He should've thought about his in advance. "What is your purpose there?" the voice repeated.

"This is Lord Brakiss of the Shadow Academy," Azok said, lowering his voice. Jaulis, Lyven, and Essri flashed him a panicked look. "I've got this," he whispered, too soft for the comm to pick up. Brakiss was, according to Jaulis and Luke Skywalker, the leaders of the Second Imperium, and commander of the Shadow Academy. "Azok hoped his voice was an accurate representation. I don't have to answer these questions fool! Now let me in or I'll have you eaten alive by hungry Ng'oks!"

"Let me see your face, Lord Brakiss. Access the shuttle's photoreceptors." Azok looked around the shuttle. Azok shrugged to Jaulis. Jaulis motioned for Lyven and Essri to stand aside form the receptor. Then, he pressed a small white button near the monitor.

"Now, allow me to land at once," Azok said, filling his voice with power.

"….is that him?" a voice on the other side said.

"….I don't know, I've never seen him. I thought he was older."

"….well, what do we do?"

"….Well, what if it really _is_ him? We _might_ actually be eaten by hungry Ng'oks."

"….Let him pass. The officials on the ground will deal with him."

The man on the other line cleared his throat. "Very well, Lord Brakiss. My apologies for keeping you waiting."

Azok growled. "Insolent fool! You'll be lucky if I leave you with a shred of a career in the Imperial Navy!"

"Yes, Lord Brakiss. We'll have four TIE Fighters escort you down." the voice said.

"No! No TIE Fighters will escort me down. I need no assistance."

"As you desire, Lord Brakiss." Using the Force, Azok shut off the photoreceptor, and then the comm.

"That was close," Lyven said.

"Good job," Jaulis said, patting Azok's shoulder. But that's just the beginning. I don't know how we're going to get off yet. Essri smiled at Azok, sitting down in the pilot's seat.

"Just a few more minutes," she assured them. "We're almost there."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**On the surface of Argex, aboard Imperial shuttle XON-324…**

The shuttle landed softly, with no TIE Fighters escorting the ship down. The shuttle was locked down, held by durasteel clamps.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Azok said. The boarding ramp lowered, slamming onto the floor below.

"Everybody knows their jobs?" Jaulis confirmed. "Azok, you follow me. We're going to get Noces. Essri, and the Astromech, come out last, get to a plug in, and try to hack in. If you need to get to a computer to hack, leave the droid there. Lyven, you rescue Vidor. As his friend, you should be able to lock on to his Force-presence. Everybody got that?" he asked. Azok and Lyven nodded, and Essri smiled. "May the Force be with us all."

Eight stormtroopers were waiting at the base of the ramp for Lord Brakiss. It must've disappointed them when four Jedi came out, lightsabers humming. In a matter of seconds, all eight were on the floor, dead or unconscious. Lyven left first, quickly locking onto Vidor's Force-signal.

**Central Oxygen Production Facility, Argex…**

Lyven batted away blaster bolts harmlessly, walking forward. The two stromtroopers keeping guard fired more rapidly. Lyven, reaching out with the Force, deflected the bolts back at the attackers. A smoking hole appeared in one's chest; another in the other trooper's helmet. Both fell dead. Lyven dashed down the hallway, putting on a Force-assisted speed burst.

A door opened to his left, and four stormtroopers came out. Lyven dodged a bolt, leaning back, as if doing the limbo. He contorted his body back, using the momentum to spring forward, rolling. He cleaved the head off one of the stormtroopers, slicing another's legs off. He cut the end off a blaster, and brought a quick elbow back, smashing into one's helmet. Lyven stabbed forward with his saber into his chest, bringing it back to slice off the other's left arm.

It didn't bother him much that he was taking lives. They weren't innocent--they were enemy--so it didn't matter. He had heard Master Skywalker's lecture about all life being sacred, but he was putting a cheap value on human lives, cutting them down left and right.

He sprinted down the hallway, which seemed to curve to the right. Lyven wondered whether the hallway encircled the entire, circle-shaped, facility. At last, he came to the door that he sensed Vidor in. He pressed the button to open the door, but it was locked. He stabbed his lightsaber in, cutting a circular hole in the door. Inside, he saw two people.

One, a man dressed in a dark gray jumpsuit, ignited a lightsaber, and the red beam hummed to life. Lyven took a step back cautiously, even though they were in different rooms. With a burst of the Force, the door fell off, leaving a rectangular passageway between the two rooms. The man walked slowly to Lyven, who brought his lightsaber up high in a defensive position.

"You are here for Vidor," he said simply. "You must die." He struck low, forcing Lyven to parry farther down. Lyven parried left, high, left again, and right. He was driven back against the wall. Lyven's gaze was turned to Vidor, who stood inside the room, watching the battle with childish delight. _What is wrong with him?_

The dark Jedi kneed Lyven in the stomach, causing him to double over. Lyven rolled on the ground fast enough to dodge the stab. If the dark Jedi had slashed, Lyven would've been cleaved in two. Lyven recovered from his roll, standing up, shakily. Lyven attacked now, high.

The parry was perfect in form, enough to push Lyven back a meter because of the strength. Lyven surveyed his options; he was not winning this fight. Lyven Force-Pushed the dark Jedi back a meter, turned, and ran. _What was wrong with Vidor?_

**Oxygen Production Facility, Argex…**

Essri plugged in the Astromech droid into the nearest open jack in the wall. The droid's arm swiveled and turned, feeding data into the wall and taking some more out. The droid tried to hack into the mainframe. Essri casually deflected a blaster bolt back at the attacker, striking him in the groin. He fell over, nearly dead. She stood by the droid, guarding it for however long it would take.

**Oxygen Production Facility, Argex…**

Jaulis and Azok ran down the hall, having just dispatched a pair of stormtroopers. The yellow and orange blade filled the hallway with an oddly identical humming sound, the two noises blending into one. Four combat droids came out of a door ahead of Jaulis and Azok, sanding in their way. Behind them, four more emerged. Azok and Jaulis nodded to each other, and Jaulis raced forward. Azok raced back.

These were not ordinary combat droids. They were anti-Jedi droids, used to train prospective dark Jedi students on Argex. Jaulis dodged a cable that one shot at him, slicing the end off. The cable came around as a whip, slicing Jaulis' ankle. Jaulis fell down, grabbed by another whip-like cable. His lightsaber fell from his grip, and he was dragged to the robots. He summoned his lightsaber, calling it to his hand. He grabbed it, severing the two cables that had attached themselves to him. He stood up, and his face was whipped by another. Two stun bolts were shot at him; he deflected both.

Jaulis Force-Pushed one droid into another, toppling both. Two more stun bolts were shot, one which missed, the other was deflected. Jaulis hoped the stray bolt didn't collide into Azok's back. Glancing back, he found out it didn't. Jaulis Force-Jumped over one of he droids, flipping. As he came down, his yellow lightsaber cut the machine cleanly in two. By then, the two fallen droids had stood up. One shot a cable at Jaulis, wrapping around his right hand. The other had a flat shield-like thing as a hand. Jaulis felt the pulse of energy from it, bringing his lightsaber to guard. But no blaster was shot. Instead, it was a magnet. Jaulis' metal hand latched onto it, and Jaulis found both of his hands held by a part of the droids. One of the droids, using another magnet, seized Jaulis' lightsaber.

Jaulis spun the lightsaber, using the Force, slicing off the droid's head. But it wasn't defeated. It's photoreceptor was knocked out, but it was shooting electromagnets randomly. Jaulis called the lightsaber to slice off the magnet holding his hand in place. The glowing blade severed the limb, and Jaulis grabbed his lightsaber. A fierce electric current pulsed through the cable that held his right hand, and Jaulis fell into blackness…

**Oxygen Production Facility, Argex… **

Azok raised his lightsaber, absorbing two stun bolts. He augmented his speed, approaching the four droids. Azok crouched low, spinning with his orange blade extended. The glowing energy weapon seared through two droids, destroying one. One shot a cable at him, but he detected it with the Force, twisting his body to dodge it. The cable shot past him, latching onto the droid he had sliced that was still functioning.

Azok Force-Pulled the free droid onto his lightsaber, bringing the blade up, slicing through the robot's neck and skull. The damaged droid slammed its flat, magnetic limb into Azok's back. Azok toppled forward, falling onto the droid he had just slashed. Azok was suddenly shot by a cable, which attached to his black jumpsuit.

An electric bolt coursed through the cable, into Azok. Azok endured the electricity, jerkily moving his lightsaber to slice the bolt. His lightsaber struck the cable, cutting it in half. The electricity stopped, though Azok felt his hair burn a little. His muscles twitched uncontrollably at the shock. Azok Force-Pushed the damaged droid back into the wall, fully demolishing it. _One left._

Azok stabbed the droid in its photoreceptor, bringing the blade downward. The final droid fell motionless. Azok turned to see Jaulis being picked up by one droid he was facing. A door opened, and the droid walked through, carrying Jaulis. Azok rushed to the door, where there was one anti-Jedi droid left, guarding it.

Azok pivoted on his left ankle, dodging both blue arcs. He sprinted to the droid, leaping up. As he leapt, his blade cleaved through the droid from the bottom up, and before he landed, the droid's two halves had fallen to the ground. Azok pressed the OPEN button on the door, but it didn't respond. He plunged his orange lightsaber into the door, carving a melting circle in the wall. The circle fell in, slamming on the ground.

The next room was…as best Azok could describe…strange. As soon as he entered the room, he knew it was unusual. The room was ridiculously large, and appeared to be suspended above…nothing. There was a single, hovering path that curved around the room, ending up at the other side of the room, at the door. On the walls, there were curious looking holes which Azok didn't understand. Azok saw, on the other side of the room, the large droid, still holding Jaulis, enter the door opposite Azok. Then, the door closed, and the lights went out.

Azok climbed through the still glowing opening, his lightsaber the only source of illumination, other than the light that poured in from outside the room. Azok, using the lightsaber as a guide, stepped down the trail. _Don't think; feel. Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them._ Jaulis had said that once…now look where he was…captured by a droid. _He couldn't even handle four_, Azok thought. Jaulis said Luke told him that, but Luke heard it from Obi-Wan, who heard it from his old master. Azok couldn't remember who it was at the moment. He shut off his lightsaber, and clipped it to his belt.

Azok closed his eyes, feeling the Force around him. He took a step forward, stepping on solid ground. He lacked confidence at first, but gained more with each correct step. Eventually, he reached the halfway point. That's when the fans started. High speed fans started up, sending spirals of wind at Azok. Azok was caught off guard, blown off the track. His eyes snapped wide open, and he grabbed the edge of the pathway, hanging off the trail. He pulled himself back up, balancing himself to the wind.

Still closing his eyes, he walked on. But it wasn't over. Not yet.

**Oxygen Production Facility, Argex… **

Lyven dashed down the hallway, pursued by the dark Jedi. His bluish-green lightsaber was still ignited, providing a background noise for his loud feet. Using the Force, the dark Jedi tripped Lyven. Lyven slammed to the ground, his lightsaber clattering on the ground away from him. Lyven rolled around; the dark Jedi was only about ten meters away.

Lyven stood up, summoning his energy weapon. Two meters before the dark Jedi reached him, Lyven gripped his weapon, positioning his blade in a defense stance. Then the blades clashed. The force of the blade repulsed Lyven backward a few inches. Lyven pushed forward, exerting a strong Force-Push. The dark Jedi was thrown back by the Force assault, slamming into the side of the hallway.

Lyven heard a _crack_ as the dark Jedi slumped against the wall. His lightsaber deactivated, and he fell motionless.

"Ah, Lyven," a voice said from behind him. "So you've come to rescue me." Lyven spun around, bringing his blade in a defense position against the peaceful enemy. That is, if he could be called an 'enemy'. It was Vidor.

"Come on," Lyven urged. "We're leaving in a few minutes."

"Leaving? _Leaving_?" Vidor's voice was thick with contempt. He let a short burst of laughter out. "Lyven, I have no plans to leave. And I have no plans to let _you_ leave either." He unclipped his lightsaber--Lyven noted that he had one--and flicked the ON switch. The glowing blade countered the turquoise light from Lyven's own, contrasting it with a sickly red.

**Oxygen Production Facility, Argex… **

Essri ripped the durasteel door open with a small wave of her hand. Inside, there were five technicians, typing in something on the computers. With another wave of her hand al five collapsed to the floor. They were unharmed, just unconscious. Immediately she sat down in one's stead, undoing the computer about fifteen times.

She rapidly entered a sequence into the keyboard, and a small red box popped up. She entered in another code, and continued typing away at the display. In just a few minutes, oxygen production would resume.

**Oxygen Production Facility, Argex… **

Azok made one more step, and then the turrets began firing. At first he hadn't expected it. He was lucky though; the first shot missed, shooting past him and into the darkness below. The second also missed, bouncing off the path far ahead of him. It took a few seconds before the targeting systems honed themselves on Azok. One shot again, but it was reflected off Azok's orange lightsaber.

Azok raised his blade in a perfect defense, blocking another bolt. He crouched to reduce the effect of the wind on him, deflecting another bolt with the tip of his lightsaber. He took a step forward, Force-Pulling one of the blaster turrets. The turret nozzle bent downward, and the turret shot at Azok. Instead of sizzling through air, the bolt hit the bent tip, causing the blaster to explode.

Azok performed the trick again on two more blaster turrets. _One left_. A bolt shot out at him, whirring past his left ear. Azok's blade moved to block it, but he was blasted by a gust of wind. He leaned forward uncontrollably, but pushed himself back up with the Force.

He deflected another bolt back at the turret, making it smoke and spark intermittently. Then, he proceeded toward the door. He jabbed his lightsaber into the door, melting it aside. He climbed through the still glowing door, walking into a room with one droid, Jaulis, and Noces.

**Oxygen Production Facility, Argex… **

Lyven raised his lightsaber to parry the high strike from Vidor.

"You've joined _them_?" Lyven asked, shocked.

"They're not evil Lyven. You're just misinformed."

"Misinformed?" Lyven repeated, blocking another slash. "_I'm_ misinformed? You joined a group of _dark_ Jedi, who work for the _Empire_."

"The Empire wasn't bad Lyven. They taught me that. Another thing you're misinformed about."

"_I'm_ not the one misinformed!" Lyven screamed, slicing at Vidor's neck. Vidor ducked, stabbing at Lyven's torso. Lyven jumped back half a meter, avoiding the attack.

"Yes you are Lyven. You adhere to old Jedi dogma, even though you don't understand it. To follow something without reason-"

"I have reason Vidor. To stop people like you." Lyven struck at Vidor several times, but Vidor parried all the attacks.

"Oh yeah?" Vidor mocked. "Stop this." With a huge Force exertion, Lyven slammed against the wall, slipping slowly into unconsciousness…

**Oxygen Production Facility, Argex… **

_Beep. _Essri smiled; the oxygen production machines had restarted. She stood up, locking quickly to Lyven's Force presence. He _should've_ been back at the shuttle by now. What was happening? She ran out into the hallway, chasing down Lyven's Force signature.

In about a minute, she found Lyven…slung over Vidor's shoulder. Vidor was facing two stormtroopers. Vidor dumped the unconscious body on the floor in front of him.

"Deal with her," Vidor said, stepping through a door. Essri flashed her lightsaber to life with a _snap-hiss_, deflecting a close bolt. She deflected another bolt, this one back at one of the stormtroopers. It hit his knee, and he fell. He started shouting something in his comm. The other stormtrooper shot at Essri, and she blocked it, sending it careening into the floor.

She Force-Pushed the stormtrooper into the wall, knocking him motionless. Then, using the Force, Essri slammed the fallen stormtrooper's skull into the floor. He, too, fell unconscious. She ignored Vidor's escape, Force-Pulling Lyven's body to her. She grabbed Lyven's unmoving body, shutting off her lightsaber, and walked back to the shuttle. Azok and Jaulis should be there any minute…

**Oxygen Production Facility, Argex… **

"Hello Azok," Noces said coldly, the door closing behind Azok. Azok jumped in surprise, surveying the room swiftly. He was in another computer room, not the one he had been in the last time he visited the station on Argex. But they were very similar.

The room flashed, blinked, and beeped with a wider assortment of dim glowing colors, and strange soft noises. There were only three chairs behind Noces, who stood, flanked on both sides; to his right, the droid that carried Jaulis, the left, Jaulis' unconscious body. Azok noted that Jaulis was slumped against a door.

"Noces," Azok greeted frigidly in return.

"I can see you've fallen into my trap, young Azok."

"Vice versa," Azok said, snap-hissing his blade back into life. "Let Jaulis go." Noces took a deep breath in, slowly releasing it.

"Come on Azok. You've tried this before. Last time it didn't work." Azok seethed. "Besides, you don't want to ruin this operation, do you?"

"What operation?" Azok lied.

"Azok, it's already succeeded. The oxygen facilities are back online. Unfortunately, I have the power to shut them off in about two minutes.

"Impossible," Azok countered. "They're encrypted with a password."

"Ha!" Noces laughed. "Shut off your weapon Azok; it will do you no good…yet." Not to Noces' surprise, Azok did. Azok didn't clip it to his belt, keeping it ready for activation within a second. "I know the shuttle you came in on. Shuttle XON-324. You impersonated Lord Brakiss--rather poorly actually."

"Well then why didn't you shoot us down?"

"Your destiny isn't becoming space dust," Noces stated simply. "You have a greater one." His voice dropped. "A more powerful one."

"Destiny doesn't exist."

"Now you're just trying to revolt against me," Noces stated again. "You have no evidence to back up that claim…because deep down, you know I'm right." Azok was silent. "You know I was right about using your anger in battle, and you know I'm right now." If it weren't for me, you'd just be an embarrassed, washed-up _hero_." Noces stressed the word.

"_Hero_?" Azok stressed back. "You think that's what I am? You practically tried to kill me!"

"You want to be the hero, Azok. I'm merely trying to help you achieve your potential."

"A Sith wants to help me achieve my potential?"

"_Dark Jedi_, Azok. The Sith are nearly extinct. Tell me, Azok: as a _Jedi_, what is your final objective?"

"To save lives."

"Consider this question: a speeder was spiraling out of control down an airway. In a few seconds, it would collide with a group of four people, killing them all." Azok was stunned. _One moment he trying to kill me, and now he's asking me a philosophical question? What angle is he playing?_ "However, you have one option: you can Force-throw an innocent bystander in the way, saving the four people."

"Is the group of four innocent too?" Azok interrupted. _What am I doing? Am I going along with this guy's plan?_

"Yes, everyone is innocent," Noces corrected, smiling. What do you do as a Jedi? Your goal is to save the most lives, right?"

"But we don't have the right to decide people's lives for them," Azok retorted adamantly.

"Yes you do!" Noces replied sharply. "That's why you're a Jedi; you have that power! You--we--are granted insight from the Force. So, who dies?" Azok paused, thinking over the options. He came to a conclusion that would get Noces.

"I throw myself in the way instead." A sinister grin spread to Noces' face.

"Interesting answer, Azok. But wrong, so totally wrong." Azok was silent. "As Jedi, you--we--are obligated to protect the people. Throwing yourself in the way protects them, but only for so long. Once you die, there will be nobody to protect them."

"So I'm supposed to let people die?" Azok challenged stubbornly. "That's not what a Jedi does."

"Don't let them die if you have a _choice_," Noces said. "You cannot protect them if you're dead. Let others die so that you can ensure the survival of the masses. The end _does_ justify the means." Azok knew that Noces was evil. He knew that Noces worked for the Empire. But, most of all, Azok knew he was _right_.

"What do you want?" Azok asked.

"I want you to join the Empire," Noces said quickly. "But that's not going to happen." He paused. "I want…they want you to kill Jaulis."

"They?"

"The miners below us. I'm going to offer you a choice. Kill Jaulis now, and I will not shut off the oxygen production facilities. If you don't, I'll let you escape with Jaulis, but I'll shut off the oxygen production facilities. Jaulis will live, but eight million miners will die."

"You want me to kill Jaulis?" Azok screamed.

"I don't want you to kill Jaulis. I want you to make a _choice_."

"I-I-I can't do this," Azok said, reactivating his lightsaber. "Option C, you die." Azok stabbed at Noces' head, but he merely sidestepped, Force-slamming Azok into the wall. He Force-Pulled the lightsaber from Azok, shutting it off.

"If you try that again, then I will kill you, kill Jaulis, and kill the miners." Noces tossed the lightsaber to Azok. "_Make a choice_."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

**Chapter 8:**

Azok stared at Jaulis' unconscious body. _Noces wanted him to kill Jaulis? _

"Choose, Azok. One life or eight million. It's not difficult. If I asked you that question before, the answer would undoubtedly be the eight million. Why should it be so different now?" Azok thought it over. Logically, numerically it worked out. But not _emotionally_. Jedi weren't taught to have emotions.

"I can't kill my master," Azok stated. But Noces wouldn't give up.

"You follow a code that demands that you have no attachments Azok. You follow a code that demands that you set aside your emotions, and do what is best. Jaulis may mean something to you, but think about the _eight million_ miners. Some of them have wives, have families, have _children_. Each one of them has a life that is equal to Jaulis'."

"But it is what they choose to do with it," Azok countered. "Isn't that what that psycho-question was all about?"

"One Jedi will save over five lives. Once Jedi will save over one hundred, maybe a thousand. So a Jedi's life is worth more than a hundred, maybe more. But only a few Jedi will save over a million lives. And only a few have saved over eight million." Azok sighed; Noces smiled inwardly. His plan was working. About one more minute and Noces would have him. "Azok…what would Jaulis do?"

"He would die for them," Azok said. "But he wouldn't kill unless he had to. And he doesn't have to."

"A Jedi's life is sacrifice, Azok. Th-" Noces was cut off by a groan. From Jaulis.

Jaulis was waking up. Again, Noces smiled.

**Oxygen Production Facility, Argex… **

Azok stepped back in astonishment. Jaulis leaned forward as he awakened. The droid took one heavy step backward, angling its hefty blaster at Jaulis. Noces remained where he stood.

"Wake up Jaulis," Noces said simply. "We were just talking about you." Jaulis rolled on the ground a little bit, his eyes still closed. "As I was saying Azok…place your attachments and emotions aside and make a _decision_. Make a _choice_. That's what being a Jedi is all about. Making hard decisions."

"Jaulis, he wants to kill you," Azok blurted out. Noces glared at Azok, then shifted his gaze towards Jaulis, who rose. Immediately, Jaulis Force-slammed the droid into the ceiling, then back into the ground. It sparked and dented, and was motionless. In a fraction of a second later, he Force-pinned Noces to the wall.

"Azok, give me your lightsaber."

"What? Why?" Azok asked rapidly.

"I'm going to kill him." There was a pause as Jaulis extended his hand. Three seconds passed. "Give me your lightsaber."

"I thought you said all life is sacred."

"He's trying to corrupt your will Azok. Unless he is stopped…" Jaulis' voice trailed off. "I have to kill him…for the greater good." Noces' features twisted into a deranged grin.

"I-I'll kill him…for the greater good," Azok said. Both men turned their eyes to look at him.

"Good," Jaulis said. "Kill him now."

"Jaulis," Azok began, his features solemn. "I meant you." As Azok finished the words, the orange hum of his lightsaber cleaved through Jaulis' arm flesh and bone, leaving a charred stump. His Force-hold on Noces as cut off, and Noces landed harmlessly on the ground

"What!?" Jaulis screamed, his voice thick with anger, pain, and betrayal. "How...could you? Why?" Tears began trickling down Azok's cheeks.

"You said it yourself: for the greater good." Azok's lightsaber flashed past Noces' eyes, severing Jaulis' head. Jaulis' skull fell to the ground, bouncing twice, and rolled on the ground before it came to a complete stop. The remainder of Jaulis' body collapsed to the ground, falling lifeless.

"You have accomplished your goal Azok," Noces said. "And you will fulfill the prophecy."

"What prophecy?" Azok questioned. Noces ignored the question.

"Go now, Azok." The door to Azok's right opened, leaving a clear passageway leading to another door. "The door will take you near the hanger. Tell Essri that I killed Jaulis; I'll take the blame."

"What are you going to do about the miners?" Azok inquired, concerned.

"They will live. The Empire will soon abandon their position on Argex, and the New Republic will save them before they die. You made the right choice." It was only then that Azok finally shut off his lightsaber, attaching it to his belt. Azok Force-pulled Jaulis' lightsaber to him, which had previously been tucked in his tunic. "Go."

"And Jaulis? You'll give him the proper burial?"

"Yes. He will be buried properly. He was a noble Jedi."

"Thank you," Azok said.

"Do not thank the one that opens your eyes; thank your eyes for seeing. Please go."

Azok ran down the hallway.

**Oxygen Production Facility, Argex, Hanger Bay…**

The door opened ahead of Azok, revealing a dozen or so defeated stormtroopers strewn across the bay floor. Essri noticed Azok immediately, who was standing on a catwalk that encircled its way around the hanger bay. While Azok couldn't see Lyven, he sensed him inside the Imperial shuttle. Essri's expression changed from hurried to saddened.

Azok wasn't with Jaulis, and Azok was crying. Azok vaulted the skywalk rail, slowing himself with the Force. He landed softly, running to the shuttle.

"Where's Jaulis?" Essri asked, though deep down, she knew what had happened.

"He's dead," Azok said. Azok felt a lump in his throat. "Noces killed him." Essri gasped.

"Then there is nothing we can do," she stated regrettably and bluntly. "Get in the shuttle."

**Imperial Theta-class Shuttle JC-17…**

Noces strode victoriously up the boarding ramp of the Theta-class shuttle. He left the oxygen production facilities online, and ordered them to stay online indefinitely. Furthermore, he ordered that all dead bodies--including Jaulis'--to be incinerated. But his triumph was cut off by the raspy whisper from the cargo hold.

He gripped his lightsaber instantly, and then remembered who he was meeting. He released his lightsaber, wiping his sweaty hands on his black armor.

"Noces," the voice whispered from behind him.

"Yes, master?" Noces responded, turning to the figure and bowing on one knee. The figure let out one short burst of laughter.

"Ironic, isn't it?" the figure said absent-mindedly. "Noces, I am getting stronger."

"Excellent," Noces reported crisply. "I thought as much."

"But I am still weak. I am combating my curse slowly, and I will be cured in a few months."

"Yes, master."

"The young Azok has killed Jaulis. The gears of the galaxy are moving faster now. This will directly benefit me…it already is." The figure paused, taking a deep breath. Continuing, the figure said, "You must ensure that Azok, and his…friend, Sali are sent to Yllgar for the planetary conflict. Contact your inside agent and ensure that they are sent there."

"What shall I tell Adana?"

"She already knows. She is expecting you in a week or so."

"As you wish." Noces bowed to the specter again, turning around.

"Be warned Noces: you are my only other contact with which I share the future. You and Adana are responsible for the events to come. If I am to be full and cured, _nothing can go wrong_. Is this understood?"

"Yes, fully."

"Make sure Sali is unharmed. If I am to be cured…" the figure paused for a moment, taking a deep, hoarse breath. "…I must kill Sali."

**On board Imperial shuttle XON-324, en route from Argex to Yavin 4…**

Azok sat on one of the dejarik chairs, playing against the ship computer. He was winning, 11-3. Now he was on a six win streak. _Kintan strider to Ng'ok,_ Azok moved. 12-3. Essri came up from behind him, tapping him gently on the shoulder. Azok sensed her before she tapped him on the shoulder though. Azok turned.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she invited quietly.

"No." Azok's voice was depressed and thick with misery. "Not really."

"What went on in there? How was Jaulis killed?" Azok took a deep breath, and another. Then, he began.

"Me and Jaulis were in one of the hallways, but a bunch of droids came out of the doors. Me and Jaulis split up, each taking four of the droids. I destroyed my four, but Jaulis had left two alive. One of them stunned him. So I pursued the droid that had carried Jaulis--I killed the other one--and I found Noces. Noces," Azok paused. Essri would think he was trying to find how to say his story, but Azok was really gathering his tale, crafting a new ending.

"Noces killed Jaulis right in front of me," Azok said, starting to sob. The tears were real, he wasn't acting, but the words were fake. "He just killed him, stabbed him through his heart. Then I fell into such a rage, and I Force-slammed Noces into the wall. I turned and ran down a hallway, and I appeared near the hanger." Essri placed a hand on Azok's shoulder. He shrugged it off.

For about a minute Azok and Essri sat in silence. Then, Azok broke the silence like a pebble breaking the tranquility of a ripple-less pond.

"Want to play?" Azok asked, gesturing weakly towards the dejarik table. Essri shook her head, her grayish hair flowing back and forth.

"Don't know how."

"I could teach you," Azok said optimistically. Essri laughed lightly.

"I don't have much of a desire to learn, thanks."

"Alright," Azok whispered. "But if you ever want to play, I'm always open." Essri stood up and retired to her chambers, leaving Azok alone in the living chamber, accompanied only by the gentle hum of the hyperdrive.

**Yavin 4, Jedi Temple…**

Azok, Essri and Lyven stepped down the ramp onto the top of the Great Temple. Luke Skywalker stood patiently waiting, hands folded. His welcoming smile turned concerned when he didn't see Jaulis. Essri nodded almost imperceptibly to Luke, and he nodded solemnly.

"Azok, Lyven," Luke said. "Welcome back. If you'll please leave Essri and I alone for a few minutes." Azok and Lyven obeyed, stepping into the turbolift, which then lowered itself down the Temple. A few moments later, Luke spoke. "What happened to Jaulis?"

"He was killed during our mission. I'll fill you and the council in later."

"How did he die?" Luke asked.

"According to Azok, Noces killed him." Essri sighed.

"I'm afraid he's the least of our worries," Luke stated.

"What do you mean?" Essri inquired.

"Well, intel reports that Tamith Kai and Brakiss are planning an attack against the Yavin 4 Temple. Fortunately, we've acquired the full support of the New Republic fleet to defend the moon. Furthermore, there's been an uprising the planets Yllgar and Dufar. The council has considered sending a detachment of Jedi there, but, so far, there's been no volunteers. And with the Jedi already spread thinly across the family, I'm afraid we can't commit any Jedi to the conflict."

"I understand."

"Essri, what do you mean by 'according to Azok'?"

"I wasn't present when Noces died. Azok was with him when Noces killed him. Azok told me what happened after we left Argex." Luke furrowed his brow.

"Alright. I'll have to talk to him."

**Yavin 4 Temple…**

"Azok, wait!" Azok turned around a moment before h was about to cross into the jungle. The voice was Luke Skywalker.

"Yes master?" Azok said, wincing inwardly at calling Luke 'master'. Something about it just felt wrong. Maybe he couldn't use the word since Jaulis died…maybe it was something else. Azok didn't know what. But it bothered him.

"I need to talk to you." Luke's voice was soft, but unrelenting. Azok knew it was important; he knew what it was about.

"About Jaulis?" Azok said. "You want to know how he died, don't you?" Azok asked, his voice monotone and flat.

"Yes," Luke answered cautiously, as if entering an unfamiliar place. "I need to know what happened."

"I wrote the report on the way back," Azok said, refraining from using 'master' that time. "I submitted it to the Council."

"I know Azok." Luke let out a deep breath. "But I need to hear it from you." Now it was Azok's turn to let out a breath, defeated.

"Alright," he said, artificially welcoming. "What do you want to know?"

"What exactly happened on Argex, Azok?" Luke's eyes stared right into Azok's, as if Luke could see into his brain. For all Azok knew, Luke _could_ read minds.

"Well, we landed, and we split up. Jaulis and I went first. Jaulis locked onto Noces' Force presence and we followed the signal. Essri went next, and then Lyven. I'm not sure what they did. Then, eight combat droids met us in the hallways, and we fought. One of them knocked Jaulis unconscious, and picked him up. After I destroyed my droids, I followed it. Eventually, it led me to Noces. Then-" Azok paused, swallowing.

"Go on," Luke whispered.

"Then, Noces stabbed Jaulis right in the heart. I Force-Pushed him against the wall and ran away. I found the ship and we left within ten minutes of landing. So what happened with the whole situation on Argex? With the miners?" Luke took Azok's conversation lure, and bit down.

"Strangely, the Second Imperium fled the planet. They took their entire fleet and left. We believe that they are planning an assault against the Jedi Academy. In fact, that's another reason I wanted to talk to you."

"What?" Azok inquired.

"Well, after Jaulis died, you are without a master. So is Lyven. We can't elevate you to Jedi Knight, but we can't demote you. Jedi Knight Zaul has requested you as his padawan, if you'd like to accept. Lyven hasn't been asked by any Jedi yet." Azok didn't know who Zaul was. But, he _did_ need a new master.

"Can you tell him that I accept," Azok asked.

"We thought you'd say that Azok. That's why I'm about to tell you this. Recently, there's been a planetary dispute between Yllgar and Dufar. We got one volunteer team of Jedi to negotiate the conflict. But, the Council thought it better to send two diplomatic teams instead of one. Zaul and you will go to Yllgar tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Azok repeated, surprised.

"I'm sorry you never get to spend any time around the Academy Azok. But this is extremely important. Pack your bags." Suddenly, Luke spun around and began walking away.

"Luke?" Azok called, then realizing that he should've called Luke 'master', however uncomfortable it may feel. "Who's the other team of Jedi?" Luke, not turning around, craned his head back at Azok.

"You know who Knight Illias is already. As for her padawan, I believe you and Sali are quite close." Luke smiled, winking.

Azok smiled back.

**Yavin 4, outside the Great Temple…**

Azok finished his third set of push-ups, standing up. He walked a short distance to a plain-looking bench and sat down. Sali, already sitting on the bench, a fair distance away from him, smiled lightly. Azok wiped beads of perspiration from his eyebrows.

"So did Illias let you start building your lightsaber yet?" Azok asked. Azok took a second to enjoy a cool breeze that blew across his face.

"Yeah, I'm almost done," Sali responded quickly. "I still haven't found a crystal yet though."

"Do you know what color you want?"

"I was thinking a light blue, but I can't find any good crystals in the jungle, or the volcanic region."

"I think I could help you there."

"You have a blue lightsaber crystal?"

"Sort of," Azok admitted. "I have this." Azok reached into his tunic, and fumbled for a moment. Sali watched with intense curiosity at what Azok was about to bring out. Finally, he brought out a lightsaber.

"Your lightsaber's not blue though," Sali said cautiously.

"It's not my lightsaber," Azok admitted again. He took in a deep breath. "It's Jaulis'."

It was Sali's turn to take in the deep breath, though hers was in surprise, and an indefinable disgust. Her face contorted in shock, as if Azok's possession of the weapon was in itself a sin.

"No, no, you don't understand," Azok began, fumbling over the words in a hurry. "Master Skywalker said I could keep it," he lied. "I just thought because you needed a crystal that I'd give you one." Her face relaxed slightly. "And I already know the crystal works; it works for Jaulis." She still seemed frozen. Azok tried to thaw the piece of ice out more. "You can have it if you want." Azok slowly removed it from the lightsaber, opening up the skeleton and removing it carefully. "Take it."

"Alright," Sali said cautiously.

"You might need it when we leave for Yllgar. You never know."

**Aboard transport **_**Meteor Sailer**_**, en route from Yavin 4 to Yllgar…**

"Gather round everybody," Illias said, her voice echoing in the large, practically empty transport. Zaul already sat next to her. Zaul gazed suspiciously at Azok with his clear blue eyes. His neatly trimmed black hair and beard gave him the appearance of an old Rebel soldier, though he was younger than Illias herself. Zaul was human, with prominent eyebrows, and a mechanical left arm from the elbow down. Zaul seemed to be a calm, silent man who said what needed to be said and nothing more. Azok was slightly intimidated of his new master, but set his apprehension aside, focusing on Illias' words.

"I had better explain the mission to everybody first. About one month ago, the ambassador from Yllgar to Dufar was assassinated. Fortunately, the security protecting the envoy apprehended the man. He immediately confessed and admitted that he was secretly working for the Dufar government. Yllgar then secretly launched a strike team into Dufar, assassinating their leader, Prime Minister Emura. Dufar, denying their affiliation with the assassin, waged war on Yllgar."

"Which planet had a larger fleet?" Sali interposed.

"Interesting that you might suggest that Sali," Illias said. "About two months before the ambassador was killed, Yllgar started building up a large fleet, larger than standard anyway. They doubled their ship output in a few months. Dufar thought little of it, but now they're down two to one.

"So you think the Yllgar envoy was killed by the Yllgar government itself?" Azok asked. "Then, they kill the leader of Dufar's government, sending them into disarray. With the Dufar government in turmoil, and a doubly large fleet by Yllgar, victory would immediately go to Yllgar."

"Excellent thinking," Zaul said. "But consider why." Azok and Sali thought it over for a few moments.

"Does Dufar have any huge commodities, such as mining or weapons manufacturing?" Sali inquired.

"No," Illias admitted. "But their agriculture sector is very expansive."

"So Yllgar wages war on Dufar for their food supplies?" Azok asked.

"No," Zaul said. "Dufar waged war on Yllgar. That's the strange thing: it seems as if Yllgar wanted to go to war, but didn't want to be the one to declare it."

"So in the eyes of the New Republic, they'd be blameless?" Sali asked.

"Close," Illias said.

"This is so confusing," Azok whined.

"We believe it's supposed to be," Illias announced. "We believe it's the work of the anarchist Adana." Zaul gave Illias a sharp look as if trying to say _don't tell them about that_. Illias shot back a _well-they-deserve-to-know_ look.

"So why are the Jedi being called in?" Azok asked.

"Yllgar, a planet that has no history of good terms with the Jedi, called us in to help come to a treaty."

"A treaty?" Azok repeated, shocked. "I thought Yllgar wanted to go to war."

"We believe it did," Zaul said. "But they are probably trying to appear like they are blameless again."

"Or," Sali piped up. "They--Adana, rather--is trying to lure us there."

"Why?" Zaul asked. Zaul seemed genuinely interested in Sali's reason.

"To kill us," Sali said simply.

"It doesn't make sense," Zaul said. "A few Jedi didn't bother either planet before."

"I thought it wasn't supposed to make sense," Sali pointed out. Zaul smiled.

"Good point. But if it wasn't supposed to make sense, then Adana, or some other anarchist would probably be involved. And no anarchist would want four skilled Jedi to possibly compromise their objectives."

"And if an anarchist wasn't involved?" Azok interjected.

"Then it would make sense," Zaul said. "And, according to the events that have happened, it doesn't." Illias cleared her throat.

"Ahem," she cleared. She gave Zaul a _should-we-tell-them-the-other-thing_ look. Zaul shook his head, trying to be unnoticed, though all eyes were on him. Illias nodded slowly, recognizing Zaul's _it's-for-their-own-good_ stare.

"So Adana is involved?" Azok asked.

"We believe so," Illias said. "Our primary objective is to negotiate a treaty between the two planets. Our secondary objective is to stop and arrest Adana, if she is behind this. You can go now," Illias said, waving the pair of padawans off. Once they left, Illias spoke to him.

"Are you using them as bait for Adana?" she asked softly.

"I'm using all of us to capture her," Zaul admitted. "Four on one seems very much in out favor."

"Hmmm…" Illias muttered. "You forget that she commands at least master-level abilities, ad could probably take both of us in a fight."

"Then it's a good thing we have two extra Jedi."

"They are not experienced enough. Combined, I doubt they could defeat either of us."

"They are still useful," Zaul said. With that said, Zaul stood up and left.

**Unknown location…**

"Are they coming?" Lady Adana's voice boomed over the holoprojector. The mysterious, cloaked figure motioned for her to lower her voice.

"Yes. They will come, and we will kill them. Except for Azok of course."

"And what of the Shadow Academy?"

"It is making a useless assault on the Yavin 4 Academy. The Jedi will be occupied with that for several days, enough time for us to complete what we wanted."

"Excellent," she said, her voice sinister.

"I must stop the transmission now. I could be caught."

"Yes. You're doing well Zaul. Keep up your efforts." Zaul removed his hood, bowing a final time. He shut off the holoprojector and left the room.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

**Chapter 9:**

**Transport **_**Meteor Sailor,**_** on the Yllgar landing platform…**

The sleek transport _Meteor Sailor_ descended calmly onto the cramped, diminutive landing platform. The four legs of the ship protracted outward, barely managing to all stand on the small platform.

Yllgar was a windy planet, to say the least. Fierce gusts shot past the transport, carrying with them brownish particles which colored the air, though it was not less harmful to inhale. The planet itself was a slightly barren, rocky world. The station that they had just landed on spiraled hundreds of meters into the air bristled with landing platforms. The large building was nearly as thick as it was tall, though for its size, Azok thought, it was poorly guarded. He could only spot four turbolaser positions, and no missile tubes on the edifice.

"They've sent us a welcoming committee," Azok mused as the ship landed on the platform.

"We're Jedi," Zaul told him. "Of course we have a personal escort."

"It was not necessary," Illias reminded them. "Keep alert everybody."

The boarding ramp extended, and the four Jedi strode out, being greeted by the eight escorts. The main escort, security captain Ruundar, shook hands enthusiastically with each Jedi.

"It's such a pleasure to have you all here," Ruundar said. "My name is Ruundar Exso." Ruundar was a balding man with a terrible comb-over style haircut, and sharp, jumpy eyes. Although what was left of the man's hair was grey, he appeared much younger, probably by cosmetic surgery. His hands twitched in a vibrant energy, though it looked forced and artificial.

Ruundar wore loose-fitting brown garbs with two blasters tucked along his waist, one on each side. He did nothing to conceal them, however. Azok didn't like the man; he felt disturbing, the type of unsettlement one felt when a stranger wanted to talk to you on the street. More of a nervous feeling, like an undefined apprehension.

"Nice to meet you Ruundar," Illias said, smiling.

"You didn't have to send us a greeting party," Zaul said, forcing a smile. Azok exchanged an edgy glance with Sali.

Ruundar led the four Jedi down several passageways, pointing out the art on the walls, commenting on the history of the statuettes, or the arbitrary facts about an artist's life. Azok had no way of telling if the things he said were accurate or not, and felt as if Ruundar said these things to appear smarter than he really was. Perhaps he just wanted to keep conversation while walking. _Maybe he's trying to distract us from something else_, Azok thought. Illias seemed interested in what he had to say.

"Anyway," Ruundar broke in, interrupting his own comments about a statue from Aargau. "We are here."

"Where exactly is 'here'?" Sali asked. Ruundar smiled.

"If you'll all follow me in here…Our security detachment will leave us here." Ruundar waved them off, and they marched off. "This is your living chambers for your stay." Ruundar opened the dual transparisteel doors, revealing two hallways. One of them led outside, to a green courtyard, filled with exotic plants and a large fountain. The other led down a few meters, and split up into two separate paths.

"The left path leads to the courtyard," Ruundar said. "Private, of course, for Jedi only. The fountain was created by Enrae DeMirl, if any of you have ever heard of him. Very famous artist…"

"DeMirl?" Zaul questioned. "Are you sure it's not DeMarl?"

"I believe his earlier work is attributed towards his name before he changed it, DeMarl. He changed it later on in life to DeMirl for personal reasons. Have you studied art Master Jedi?" Zaul smiled humbly.

"No. Well, not really. My old master was a patron for the arts." He paused for a moment. "She taught me a bit here and there about art." Illias gave Zaul a curious stare.

"I see," Ruundar said. "Anyway, the right hallway splits up into two more. The rightmost passage leads to the male chambers, the other to the female ones. I'll have some servants bring your things to your rooms shortly."

"That's all right," Illias said. "We can get it ourselves."

"I insist," Ruundar said forcefully.

"Very well," Zaul conceded, shooting Illias a glance.

"In the meantime," Ruundar began. "There are some matters to which I should attend. I believe you also have some?"

"Yes," Illias admitted. We have to deal with some negotiations. Zaul and I, rather."

"I see," Ruundar said, walking briskly out.

"Are we not going?" Azok asked.

"No, I'm afraid not," Illias sympathized. "You and Sali will remain here while we speak with the Yllgar officials."

"We can come with you," Sali said uselessly. "It would provide us with a good learning experience."

"I said no," Illias said, more coldly than before. "We'll only be a few hours."

"I'm sure your room has some video games or something you can play in the meantime." Zaul smiled. "Keep yourselves amused."

**Yllgar Elite Residence, Courtyard…**

Saki stood in the central courtyard, which, ironically, considering the large fountain, was strangely dry. She stared impassively at the wide array of plant life around the courtyard, her attention phasing in and out. Azok ambled into the courtyard slowly, leaning against the fountain next to her. Sali's attention snapped back in.

"Thanks for the crystal," she said, still staring at the plants in front of her.

"What crystal?"

"The blue lightsaber crystal you gave me."

"Oh."

"It works perfectly in my lightsaber."

"Good," Azok said. They both paused for a second, gazing at the ported exotic plants ahead of them.

"It's so beautiful out here," Sali said, turning to Azok. Azok turned, and their eyes met.

"Yeah," Azok said, moving closer. Azok's lips touched hers, and hers, his. Sali kissed back at Azok for about five seconds, and broke off mechanically.

"Illias told me I shouldn't fall to attachments," she said sadly.

"It's not an attachment," Azok whispered. "Besides, Jedi should be allow-" Sali's comlink beeped, interrupting Azok's sentence. Sali removed it from her belt quickly, flicking it on.

"Yes?"

"Is Azok there, too?" Illias asked.

"Yes."

"Good. We've been attacked." Illias' voice was strangely calm.

"By who?" Azok asked.

"Not sure, but it's not stormtroopers. I think they're mercenaries," Illias stated.

"Hired by Dufar?" Sali asked.

"Possibly, but I think there's a third party here. I sense someone in the Force."

"An ally?" Sali inquired.

"Definitely not," Illias said. "Zaul and I were separated. I've tried comming him, but he isn't answering."

"What do you want us to do?" Azok asked.

"Stay in the room, and be alert. Some people might be coming to get you too. I'm going to find the main communications system, call for help from Yavin 4."

"We should help you," Sali interposed.

"No." Illias sounded firm. "Stay in the room. Over." The comm clicked and ended the transmission.

"We can't let he go on her own," Sali said, walking quickly to her chamber. She grabbed her lightsaber, fastening it to her belt. "_We have to help her._" Azok went into his own, clipping both lightsabers (his and Jaulis') to the sides of his belt.

"She told us to stay here."

"But she's in danger. Zaul's in danger. _We're_ in danger."

"We can't go," Azok reminded her sternly.

"We have to!" Sali nearly screamed.

"I'm not going," Azok stated.

"You don't have to. _I_ am." She pushed her hair past her shoulders. "Whether you want to or not." Azok growled.

"Fine," Azok conceded. "Let's go."

**Yllgar station hallway…**

Sali led the way, relying on her seeking of Illias' Force signal. By the number of times Sali changed directions, Azok assumed that either Illias was really fast, or Sali had no idea where she was going. And, for the life of him, Azok wasn't sure which to settle on. But he still followed.

They eventually heard blaster bolts. With a burst of Force-speed, Sali and Azok rushed to see what was happening. Illias stood, batting away a final bolt which struck a mercenary in the chest. He fell, joining the other nine fallen soldiers on the shiny brown floor.

"I told you to stay in the room," Illias commanded, shutting off her lightsaber.

"I'm sorry, master," Sali said. "We thought you were in danger."

"Well it's a good thing you found me," Illias said, looking warily around the corridor. "We need to regroup with Zaul and get out of here as soon as possible. I went to the communications center, and I sent word to Master Skywalker, but the signal here was disrupted. Someone sabotaged the main satellite." She paused, reaching out to the Force. "Azok, can you trace Zaul for us?"

"I can try," Azok said.

"Don't try, do it," Illias said. Illias' gaze fell to the two lightsabers hanging from Azok's belt. She furrowed her brow in confusion, but ignored them and followed Azok down the hallway.

There were no more interruptions while following Zaul's signal. In a few minutes, Azok located Zaul, and was nearly at his location.

"I recognize that sculpture," Sali said, pointing to a Mon Calamari sculpture of an admiral. "We're right outside the landing pad."

"You're right," Illias said cautiously. "Zaul appears all ready to go right now. How convenient." Illias pressed a button on the wall, sliding the door up. The trio walked out onto the gusty landing pad. There were two people waiting next to the ship. The door slid shut behind them, and all three Jedi heard the lock tightly secure shut.

"Zaul," Illias said. "Who's that?"

"Oh, her?" Zaul said teasingly. "That's Adana." Sali let in a sharp intake of breath.

"Oh no," she said quietly.

"I can't thank you enough for leading them right to me Zaul," her smooth and taunting voice boomed. "I could never have done it without you." Zaul smiled, but said nothing.

"This ends here," Illias said, stone-cold. Her lightsaber ignited, casting a yellow-green glow on the orange-brown landing pad.

"Indeed it does," Adana said. "But not for me." Sali and Azok's lightsaber_ snap-hissed _alive, though Azok did not ignite Jaulis'. Zaul's own lightsaber crackled to life, and now its blade shown red. "Zaul," she ordered fiercely. "Kill the young ones."

"Yes, my master," Zaul responded, inclining his head.

"All this time," Illias began. "You've been working for _her_?"

"It's hard to grasp, yes, but I confess. I hated you and your padawan, Illias," he spat. "I only took Azok as my padawan so that I could lure you all here, to Yllgar."

"So you're the one behind the assassinations," Sali said.

"Finally," Zaul said coldly. "Though the real prize goes to Adana, who orchestrated this entire operation. I am merely…the tool by which her machine functions. And now, you all will die." He raised his left hand, sending a small bolt of lightning at Sali. Caught off-guard, the electricity pummeled her in her chest, sending her flying into the locked door. She slumped back against it.

"Azok," Illias said. "Take Sali, go. Get help, I will delay them." Azok nodded, rushing over to Sali.

"I've been looking forward to this," Zaul said, waving his blade slowly a few meters from Illias.

"The feeling's mutual, Zaul." She leaped at him, causing him to fumble momentarily, slashing down at his head. His crimson blade met her green one, and the two fiercely pushed against the other's lightsaber. Sparks flew all around them, though Illias was just causing a distraction for Azok to escape. Azok had shaken Sail back into consciousness, and was melting the door behind Illias.

"I'll handle the bitch," Adana said. "Take care of the puppies." Zaul broke off his attack, leaping back, then over Illias. Illias hardly had time to adjust her saber; Adana was nearly next to her. Six lightsabers, one red, three blue, two green, held suspended in the air before Illias. Adana herself was not holding any. All six levitated in the air through the Force.

Adana slashed in all directions with all six, and Illias could not sustain the assault. She dodged to the right, beginning a roll directly towards Adana. As she rolled, he green lightsaber sliced one of the blue lightsabers in two. But before Illias could finish her roll, the scarlet lightsaber cleaved her in two, using her own momentum against her. The two halves of Illias fell before Adana's feet, and Adana smiled. Still using the Force, she shut off all the lightsabers (including Illias'), and tucked all six inside her silvery robes.

Zaul slashed at Azok, whose orange lightsaber blocked the attack. Azok pushed back, but he was not strong enough. A moment before Zaul's strength killed Azok, Sali's blue lightsaber hummed back to life, slashing down at Zaul. Zaul contorted his body to avoid the swipe, but he broke off his assault. Zaul, a few meters from the pair of Jedi, grinned.

"Finish them," Zaul," Adana's cold voice reminded Zaul.

"Yes, master." Zaul let out a barrage of Force lightning at Azok and Sali. To avoid the attack, Azok tackled Sali, pushing both of them out of the way. Unfortunately, the tackle sent them both careening off the landing pad.

"Come here," Adana said. "Leave them to their fate." Zaul walked slowly towards Adana, smiling broadly. When he arrived next to her, she spoke. "You have done well, my apprentice. Azok's path is forever set in the Dark Side."

"Azok's path?" Zaul questioned.

"That is why I told you to bring him here, after all. Azok will be my new apprentice." Zaul's broad smile faded in an instant. A split second later, Adana's red lightsaber had impaled Zaul through his chest. "I have no further use of you Zaul," she said silently. Zaul's almost dead body fell back to the landing pad, landing on top of Illias'. "_Your_ destiny is over."

**Only one chapter left in the stunning conclusion of Descent! Keep reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Falling from Yllgar landing pad…**

They fell hard. Even with the artificial slowing of the Force, Azok and Sali's impact on the ground was rough. After free-falling about a hundred meters, both Jedi landed hard on another landing pad. Azok felt at least one of his ribs crack, and Sali fell directly on her left arm. It took a few minutes before either of them stood up; the wind had been knocked out of them. Azok was surprised that their lightsabers were still intact.

"We have to get…out of here now," Azok said, staggering up. Just then, the door to the landing pad slid upward. It was Ruundar, he had six guards around him.

"Jedi!" Ruundar said. "Do you need aid?"

"You couldn't…have come at a…better time," Azok said. Each breath felt like stabbing thousands of needles into his lungs. Azok helped Sali up, moving towards the door.

"You look hurt. Shall we escort you to the medical bay?"

"No!" Sali broke in. "We need to leave as soon as possible. Can you get us a ship?"

"Yes. There's one on a landing pad thirty or so meter up. Follow me."

Azok and Sali stumbled toward Ruundar, who promptly led them to an elevator. They went inside, though Ruundar dismissed all six of the guards.

As the elevator rose, so did Azok's anxiety. Each second they spent going up brought them closer to Adana, and, in all likelihood, death. Suddenly, Ruundar began to shake.

He convulsed violently, his arm springing up and down uncontrollably. Azok and Sali glanced at each other for half a second, then tried to lower Ruundar to the ground. When they touched him, he spoke.

"This is not Ruundar," Ruundar said.

"What?" Sali exclaimed in astonishment.

"Who are you?" Azok said, thumbing his lightsaber to life. The orange blade pointed mere centimeters from Ruundar's neck.

"Put the weapon down Azok. I only want to talk."

"Who are you?" Azok repeated, slightly increasing the power on his lightsaber.

"This is a Force Illusion."

"So…you're not real?" Azok said.

"Untrue," the Phantom said. Its features instantly began to morph, it's 'flesh' darkened into brown, his grayish hair thickened to a short-cut black hair. The eyes changed to a bright blue. Azok knew who it was: Jaulis. "I am very real." The similarity in sound sent a chill up Azok's spine.

"You're just an illusion," Azok said.

"And what are illusions, my pupil?" the Jaulis-Phantom asked.

"Tricks of the light bent to form a picture?" Azok said.

"Are lightsabers not light also? Are they real?" Jaulis closed his eyes for a moment.

"You're not Jaulis," Azok spat out. "I k-" Azok cut himself off, realizing his error.

"Of course not, Azok. _You_ killed him." Sali's mouth opened wide in terror.

"You lie," she yelled.

"Do I?" Jaulis questioned. "Perhaps I should admit who I truly am. But you already know that, don't you Azok?"

"Noces."

"I always knew you were a smart child Azok. It's a pity you had to flee the Academy."

"You killed Jaulis," Sali said, looking at the Jaulis-Phantom.

"Untrue. Azok killed him."

"Stop lying!" Sali yelled.

"Sali," Azok said. "If you had to choose whether one or eight million people lived, what would you choose?" Sali's face reddened in disgust.

"You _did_," she said mollified.

"No, you don't understand." The doors to the elevator opened. Sali staggered out of the elevator.

"I understand perfectly. You killed Jaulis. You…you're a monster." Azok turned back to face the Phantom, but he had disappeared. Azok turned back to Sali, stepping out of the elevator. His orange blade moved closer to Sali. Sali _snap-hissed_ her own lightsaber to life, casting a rival blue glow on the brownish walls. "Get away from me."

"Sali, you don't get it. I had to. The eight million miners were gonna die." Get back! She said, pressing a green button on the wall. A door behind her opened, and she backed through the opening, onto another landing pad. Azok advanced. What happened next was accidental.

Azok walked through the doorway, just as Sali backed up. Azok's lightsaber made contact with hers for a second, and then bounced back up. Provoked by this movement, Sali struck. Azok parried the vertical slash, moving forward on her.

The landing pad they fought on was bare. Azok countered with a rush, forcing her near the center of the landing pad. She slashed as Azok's right heel, but he blocked, forcing her lightsaber up higher. Azok moved in, sweep-kicking her right ankle. She leaped backward, closer to the edge. She stabbed at Azok's forehead, but Azok ducked and stabbed at her chest. She leaped backward, moving even closer to the edge… She attacked vertically again; their blades locked.

Azok was forced with a choice. He could press back, but that might force her off the edge, and, in all probability, to her imminent death. He couldn't relent, or he would die. He _could_ hold the blades in equal place, try to talk her out of the battle…that was unlikely.

"Sali, stop. I don't want to hurt you."

"I don't care what you want Azok." Tears were now flowing down Sali's cheeks. She pushed harder. Azok countered, adding a burst of strength to his assault. She took two steps back, then fell.

Sali's lightsaber fell from her hand, shutting off and falling down off the edge. Sali, however, did not. Azok had grabbed her left hand.

"Don't…let…go," Azok uttered forcefully. He was now on his chest, trying to pull Sali back up. Pain shot through his body, his broken ribs pressing hard against the landing platform. Azok shouted in agony. Sali, being held by her left arm, shouted too. Both their hands grew sweaty.

"You killed…Jaulis," Sali said.

"You…don't…understand. What I did…Sali…was so others could live…" Then, she fell. "No!" Azok screamed at the top of his lungs. Azok locked eyes with her until she disappeared in the swirls of dust_. Noces took her from me_, Azok thought. _Now I'm going to get him back._ Azok quickly located Noces' Force presence. It was nearer than he had ever thought. Noces was right behind him.

"Come with me, Azok," Noces' voice said, cold and stern.

"I'm not going anywhere with you, you karking barve!" Azok's orange lightsaber _snap-hissed_ to life.

"What are you going to do Azok? Try to kill me?"

"I _am_ going to kill you, Noces," Azok stated simply.

"Don't make me laugh," Noces said. "You know I have resistant armor and far superior abilities."

"Shut up. You've taught me how to beat people like you."

"Yes, anger," Noces finished. "But you haven't learned to focus it. And, unless you follow me right now, you never will."

"I don't have to follow you," Azok began, stepping closer to Noces. "I don't have to follow the Jedi. I don't have to follow anybody." Azok stabbed at Noces' forehead, but Noces brought his cortosis gauntlet up to defend the assault, pushing the energy blade away. Noces Force-Pushed Azok away simply, forcing him to the edge of the landing pad. Noces snapped his red striped, ebony lightsaber to life.

"You cannot win, Azok." Azok was done talking. He erected a Force barrier around him, running towards Noces. His furious assault on Noces did little; Noces was parrying every attack. When Noces could, he'd block the attack with one of his gauntlets, striking at Azok with his lightsaber. When he did this, Azok would be forced to leap back to avoid the slash.

Azok struck high at Noces, low, high again, then at his left ankle. Noces was forced to bring his lightsaber into awkward positions to block the series of attacks. Slowly, Azok pushed Noces back to the door. Azok stabbed at Noces' face, faked out, bringing his slash up at Noces' groin. Noces leaped back, through the doorway, near the elevator they ascended on.

Azok attacked high again, but Noces blocked it. Noces attacked at Azok's ankles, but Azok jumped, slashing at the opposite side of Noces' head. Azok used the Force, tearing open the doors to the elevator. He tried to Force-Push Noces inside, but Noces had defended himself with a Force Shield.

Azok faked a strike at Noces' right ankle, instead leaping into the air. With Force assisted strength, Azok snap-kicked Noces in his breastplate. Though Azok knew it wouldn't hurt Noces much, it forced him to stagger back into the elevator shaft. Azok walked up to the opening of the elevator, pointing his lightsaber at Noces' unguarded, but still armored, chest.

"I told you about my armor, Azok. You don't listen," Noces said, disappointed. "Now I have to kill you."

"I told you to shut up," Azok countered. Azok pointed his lightsaber up to the ceiling, jamming the orange blade into the ceiling. He felt around in the Force for the cables. "You don't listen." Noces had a puzzled expression on his face for a second. Then, his face turned to pure horror.

"No…" Noces said. Azok carved a hole in the ceiling.

"Let's see your cortosis armor save you this time."

"Then we both die," Noces said. He tried to Force-Pull Azok inside, but Azok had too strong a Force-barrier. Noces Force-Levitated a chunk of metal from the torn door, slamming it into Azok's back. Azok fell forward, just as his lightsaber was finishing cutting the cables. The elevator shook; Azok kicked Noces' lightsaber from his hand and it shut off, clattering on the elevator floor.

Then, the elevator fell.

Azok brought his lightsaber back up, slicing a small hole in the ceiling. As they were falling, Azok propelled himself upward with a Force-Jump. Azok vanished through the hole in the top of the elevator, grabbing one of the severed cables. As the elevator fell, the cable rose.

Noces, panicking in the elevator, jumped up. His broad shoulders and spiked armor got stuck in the small hole in the ceiling, melting themselves to each other. Noces pushed himself back down, grabbing his crimson-striped lightsaber. He thumbed it to life, but it was too late. The elevator slammed into the bottom floor, exploding and becoming swallowed in the swirling put of flame.

Azok, still holding onto the cable, was thrown upward. _Adana…I'm coming for you_.

**Yllgar landing platform…**

Adana stood, her silver robes blown about from the wind, talking to someone. The someone was an illusion.

"Excellent," Adana said to the Phantom. The Phantom bore the visage of an older Azok, about a twenty-two year old Azok. His black hair was longer, pulled back behind his ears. His eyes, seemingly hardened by war--like the rest of his features--were nearly entirely yellow. He was a bit taller than Azok, not quite six feet.

The Phantom wore a totally dark outfit. He had a black shirt, covered by a black armor-plate. He also had black pants, like those of an amateur bounty hunter. The pants masked the tops of the black boots, which were also reminiscent of a bounty hunter's.

On top of all this was a smooth black cloak, which billowed and flowed in the flurries of the landing pad. He had a belt fastened around his waist, on which a smooth, dark grey lightsaber was fastened. The lightsaber had three knobs on it, and hung loosely from the belt, moving slightly in the wind.

"You will join the Dark Side, soon," Adana said.

"_He_ will join the Dark Side," the Phantom said. "_I_ already have."

"You must be present at his descent, Darth," Adana said. "_You_ will help him fall."

"I already have," the Phantom said. "But without-" The Phantom's words were cut off as the door to the landing pad slid open. Predictably, it was Azok.

"Ah, Azok," Adana welcomed, her voice strangely kind. "We were just talking about you."

"You're going to pay for all the lives you took today, Adana," Azok stated, igniting his orange lightsaber with a deadly _snap-hiss_.

"Azok," Adana began, stepping forward. They were still about ten meters away. "Zaul and Illias' deaths were necessary. Zaul was a treacherous backstabber and Illias would've killed you for killing Sali."

"How'd you know about that?" Azok said, a few tears trickling down his cheeks.

"The Force," Adana simply answered. "Besides, I had to kill Zaul to make room for my new apprentice. And I thank you for disposing of Noces, too."

"Your new apprentice?" Azok asked, surprised. Azok looked at the Phantom. "Him?"

The Phantom chuckled, shaking his head. "No. Her new apprentice is _you_. But, I suppose, in a sense it _is_ me." Azok was perplexed. Then it began to dawn on him.

"Impossible," Azok said, stepping back from Adana.

"Yes," The Phantom said. "_I am you_."

"No," Azok whispered. "It can't…" His voice trailed off.

"He isn't in the flesh…yet," Adana said. "He is a shadow of the future. In time, you will become flesh, and he…he will be your shadow."

"So I become him?" Azok asked.

"Don't be so disappointed," Phantom said. "It's actually a much better life than the alternative."

"The alternative?"

"Yes," Adana answered. She motioned with her hand, and the air began to ripple. The ripples of orange-brown changed to a dull grey, forming a picture in the sky.

In the picture, it showed an older, more scarred Azok in a prison cell. His eyes, looking sunken and defeated, had large bags underneath, nearly reaching his lips, which seemed to be perpetually frowning. He wore worse than rags, and was surrounded by hundreds of other criminals. His muscles had diminished, and all that remained was a gaunt, skeletal frame of a once-great Jedi.

"That's in five years," Adana said. "Shall we look in ten?" The picture in the sky rippled again, and it changed to black. Pure black, nothing else. "Hmmm," Adana said. "I guess you don't live to be twenty-five. Pity."

Azok searched his feelings, but only found that what Adana said was true. He tried to look in the future, but couldn't. It was always in motion.

"That future is avoidable," Adana said. "If you join me."

"I'm not joining you," Azok said. "You killed Sali."

"I didn't kill Sali," Adana said. "I was no more responsible for that than I was for Jaulis' death." She paused for a moment, and then continued. "You are responsible for Jaulis' death. But Sali. Nobody is responsible for Sali's death."

"What?" Azok inquired.

"None of us are responsible for her death. She's not dead…yet."

"No," Azok said. "She fell; she's dead."

"Sali is alive. You and she fell before, and you're both still living. There's a reason you didn't feel her death in the Force: she's living."

Azok searched his feeling again…only truth.

"But she must die," Adana said.

"What? No!"

"Azok, she knows I-you killed Jaulis," Phantom said. "If she is alive and goes back to Skywalker, you'll be hunted down and killed or imprisoned." Azok knew he was telling the truth, but he couldn't kill Sali. "You know I'm right."

"I know," Azok conceded. Azok lowered his head, tears welling up in his eyes. "How do you suggest we do it?"

"Well," Phantom said. "Sali knows that everyone else is dead. She knows the communications center is out. She knows we'll be looking for her. She knows the only thing she can do is…escape."

"And we have to stop her," Azok said. As much as Azok hated the situation he was in, he knew his best future lay in the…..the…path of the Sith. And he knew it was truly his only option.

"Hurry," Phantom said. "We can go inside the _Meteor Sailor_ and kill Sali before she jumps to hyperspace. You can track her, yes?" Azok felt a bit uneasy.

"I can sense her in the Force if that's what you mean," Azok answered. "But after our duel…it'll be harder."

"Yes. But you still can," Phantom said, half a question, half an answer. Azok didn't give a response. "Let's get in the ship."

Adana and Azok hurried into the ship; Phantom had just vanished and appeared inside. Adana strode toward the helm, booting up the ship. Azok sat in the co-pilot's seat.

"I can track all ships active and near us," Adana said, pointing towards a display screen. "There's only one, and it's going fast. If we move power to engines, we can catch it in a few minutes. Let's move." The ship raised off the landing pad, and shot after the blip in the distance.

**Airspace in the Yllgar atmosphere…**

The _Meteor Sailor_ cut through the clouds, decreasing the distance between Sali's ship and theirs. Her ship appeared to be some type of light cargo ship which, at the moment, had difficulty adjusting to the cold of space.

"Almost in range," Adana said. "Azok, get ready to fire."

"Can't we open up a comm channel to her first?" Azok asked.

"She won't listen," Adana said, sighing. "But we can try." Adana flicked a knob on the dashboard. She motioned for Azok to speak.

"Sali? Can you hear me?" There was a moment of silence, a bust of static, and then an answer.

"Go kark yourself Azok," Sali's voice came back, starting Azok.

"You've sealed your own fate then," Azok said, shutting off the comm. "Are we in range yet?"

"Nearly," Adana answered. "About twenty seconds. That is, unless she jumps to hyperspace."

The next twenty seconds seemed to take a century. But, like centuries, this time period was soon over, and Azok found himself gripping the controls for the laser bank.

"Concentrate," Adana said soothingly. "Feel the laser. Aim, fire." Azok forced his eyes shut. What was he about to do? How could he kill Sali? "Concentrate." He had to do this. If she got away, Skywalker would hear about all the things he had done. He couldn't hesitate; he couldn't falter; he couldn't miss.

Azok locked the sights on the cargo ship, and fired three bolts. The first one soared harmlessly above the ship. The second glanced off the upper hull plating. The third one struck the hull dead on. Azok fired again. Again. Again. Three more bolts landed at the back hull plating. He knew Sali's shields were dying. _Now, for the kill._

Azok armed one of the_ Meteor Sailor's_ few concussion missiles, targeting Sali. He was about to press the launch button, but something stopped him. Only for a second. Then, Azok refocused, pressing the red button. A single missile streaked towards Sali's cargo ship, gaining speed quickly. Then, the ship disappeared.

Sali had jumped to hyperspace.

Azok had failed.

"Kriff," Adana swore. Azok didn't know why she swore at first, but soon realized.

"Fire!" Phantom said. "The concussion missiles are constructed in such a way that they home in on the nearest consumer of electricity if they lose sight of their intended target. In other words: it's coming back at _us_."

Azok steered the turbolaser cannon to the left, but he couldn't get a lock on it.

"Forget the lock," Phantom said. "Just fire!" Azok fired six times, but all shots missed. Azok looked over at Adana; she was deep in concentration. Azok fired two more bolts, but they missed more than the six.

"Put the shields up!" Azok yelled. "Adana!?" Just then, the missile exploded, only ten meters from the ship. The _Meteor Sailor_ rocked back and forth once, then steadied itself. Azok let out a deep breath. "What was that?"

"Using the Force, I created a shield around out ship. It could defend against a few lasers, or a missile if made properly."

Interrupting Adana's explanation, Phantom spoke up. "This is where I must leave, Azok."

"What? No," Azok argued. "You can't go."

"Why not?"

"I want to ask more about my future?"

"Impossible," Phantom said. "Discovery about your future might make your future entirely different. And I couldn't do that."

"So my future is too good to want to have it changed?" Azok concluded.

"Only you can know that." As if on cue, the Phantom vanished in a split-second.

Azok and Adana sat in the cockpit of the _Meteor Sailor_, dead silent. The only noise was the gentle humming of the engines, which Azok had tuned out. After a long pause, Azok asked,

"What now?"

"Now, we go to Raxus Prime."

"What's there?"

"The beginning of your training."

**Raxus Prime…**

Anyone who hadn't been to Raxus Prime before could never emphasize what a garbage dump it was. Just from outer space, one could tell that it was the trash can of the galaxy. And that was an understatement. The Meteor Sailor touched down on one of the best kept landing pads Azok could see.

It was obvious by sight that the thick smog covering the garbage-covered planet was toxic, and perhaps acidic. Azok briefly wondered if it ever rained there. The only clouds he was seemed to be huge brown masses ridiculously low in the atmosphere. If they _did_ rain, it was probably battery acid.

"Home sweet home," Adana mused, pulling out two breath masks. Azok smiled. Adana handed one of the masks to Azok. "Put this on."

"Where exactly are we going? Dumpster diving?" It was Adana's turn to smile.

"In a manner of speaking," Adana returned. Azok's smiled vanished. He quickly secured the mask over his face. "We are going below the surface."

Azok followed Adana outside of the ship and into a strangely-shaped, small brown building. Azok hadn't noticed it before…probably because it blended in with the trash motif of the planet. Inside felt much cooler.

"You can take the mask off now," Adana said, pulling hers up. Azok did the same. "And if you get a small rash, it's from the air outside. It can be a bit acidic. I'll teach you something to prevent that later." Even without the mask, the small room still smelt metallic.

Azok took a few seconds to survey his surroundings. It was a small brown room that appeared to once have been a bar. There were several stools rooted into the ground, but it was evident by the dust build-up that nobody had sat on any of them in a long time. On the opposite wall there was a small, transparisteel door. Behind it was an elevator.

"You guessed it," Adana said. "Down we go." Azok followed Adana down the elevator. The cramped ride took almost two minutes, and when they touched down, Azok felt like we was going to vomit.

"What are we doing here?" Azok asked. Azok asked himself what 'here' was. He appeared to be in what looked like military barracks. There was a long black hallway, with military-looking doors on either side. The lighting was dim, produced by only a select number of glowpanels, each of which appeared to be functioning at 10.

"Simple. We are here for your training."

"No, not _here_," Azok clarified. "_Here_, on Raxus Prime. Why not a better planet, like Corellia or Naboo?"

"Ah," Adana said, gathering her thoughts. "We are here because here is safe. Raxus Prime may be a harsh world, but it's a near-perfect one to begin your difficult training. Plus, it's one of the last planets the Far Outsiders would attack."

"Far Outsiders?" Azok asked.

"Yes, the intergalactic invaders that will come in a year or so. That's why we will never leave this planet. It won't be safe."

"Intergalactic invaders?"

"It's difficult to believe, yes, but it is true. A strange race of individuals will invade the galaxy very soon. We call them the Far Outsiders."

"Who's the 'we'? Why haven't I heard anything about them before?"

"_We_ are the few people who know of them. Those who know of them are trying to keep it a secret to avoid wide-spread panic." Azok looked dumbfounded. "Well, now that we're al settled in," Adana said with a fake cheery smile. "Let me show you around."

**Yavin 4 Temple…**

"Esteemed Knights, Masters, I bring you some troubling news." Sali stood inside the center of the Council Chamber, her head bowed in respect, but also in embarrassment. "Azok is, at the best, a Dark Jedi. At the worst…he is a Sith."

"Impossible," Kyle Katarn interjected. "Luke killed the last Sith when he killed Palpatine's clone. There are no more Sith."

"Sit down," Luke whispered. Kyle obeyed reluctantly.

"I suspect he has begun training with Adana."

"You _suspect_?" Kyp Durron questioned. "Do you have any real proof of this?"

"I sensed their presences together on the _Meteor Sailor_ back on Yllgar. Azok is her new apprentice."

"Hold on," Luke said. "How can you be certain?"

"Honestly, Master Skywalker, I can't be. But Azok has done some terrible things." She paused for a second. "_He_ killed Jaulis…not Noces." The Council erupted in murmurs. "He _lied_ to me about it. And I _believed_ him."

"So Noces was Adana's old apprentice?" Kyle asked.

"No. Not that I know of anyway. Her old apprentice was Zaul. He tried to kill me."

"Impossible," Kyle objected, standing up again. "Zaul is one of the most trusted Jedi. He would never betray us."

"Sit down," Luke reminded him softly.

"Well he _did_." The Council fell silent. After a while, Luke stood up slowly.

"Are you sure Azok has fallen, Sali?"

"Master Skywalker, he tried to kill me…twice. He and Adana have teamed up."

"Alright, alright, alright," Luke said calmly. "Do you know where they are? Can you sense them?"

"No. Not really. Not after we fought."

"Alright," Luke said, sitting down. "Then there is no doubt that Azok is a Dark Jedi. Thank you Sali. The Council will deliberate, and reach a conclusion of what to do. But we are not done hearing your story. We would like to talk to you later." Sali bowed her head to Luke, leaving the Council chambers.

**Raxus Prime…**

"How long will we be here for?" Azok asked.

"Eight years or so," Adana said. Azok looked around the room. This room was reminiscent of a cave, half the room--which was extremely large--was walled with duracrete. The other half was a strange brown rock, which Azok suspected to have been compacted garbage mixed with stone. The room was slightly larger than the base of the Great Temple. Azok thought it was likely an old army cafeteria. Now it was devoid of all tables and chairs, just a blank, plain room, save for a few plasteel crates in one of the corners. "Now, for your first lesson."

The next thing that happened was too fast for Azok to even see. One of Adana's feet shot into Azok's ribcage, sending him launched back and sliding onto the floor. She unleashed a single, large bolt of Force Lightning at him, ending him into agonizing convulsions.

"You must learn pain." Almost as quickly as it had started, it was over. "Pain will help you gather your anger, which you must learn to focus. Pain is the best teacher Now, try Lightning."

"I can't," Azok protested, crawling to his feet. "I don't know how to do it yet."

"The first person to ever perform Sith Lightning didn't either. Neither do you. Teach yourself. Attack me." Azok outstretched his hand, but nothing came.

"I can't do it." Azok was Force-Lifted into the sir, only to be slammed down faster than he had gone up. Another bolt of lightning sent him writhing on the floor in pain.

"That's because you lack focus. Focus your anger. Attack me!"

Azok stretched his hand at Adana, channeling all his fury, all his passion, all his _hate_. Several small sparks emerged from his fingertips, but they never reached Adana. Azok summoned more hatred, thinking of the horrors Adana had just done--and would do--for his failure. A single bolt formed from his fingertips, and shot at Adana. She raised her right hand in time to deflect the bolt harmlessly towards the cave-like wall.

"Good," Adana said. "Now do it again." Azok tried again, but he couldn't. It seemed like all his hate had evaporated when he attacked Adana. He would need to summon it again. Azok was lifted in the air, and slammed down again. Then again. And again. Azok was lifted in the air a fourth time, but he was never slammed down.

Azok pointed both his hands at Adana, unleashing a magnificent storm of blue energy. The barrage of electricity slammed Adana right in her chest, sending her flying a few meters away. Azok fell down onto his feet.

Adana was suffering.

And Azok was feeding off it.

Azok shot another bolt of lightning at Adana, who had just recovered. She raised her right hand in the way, absorbing it. Then Adana did the thing Azok least expected.

She laughed. Adana clapped her hands in pride, stepping towards Azok. Both of them had just been nearly killed, but she was laughing. They had both been through excruciating pain, but they both benefited from it. Then, Adana spoke.

"Through pain, I gain power. Through power, I gain control. Through control, I gain domination. Through domination, there is justice. Through justice, _we_ have peace."

"The Sith Code?" Azok asked.

"My version at least. The other two were too barbaric. Never forget your end goal Azok."

"I won't," Azok stated. "_**Through justice, we gain peace**_."


End file.
